S47 

mi 









:»"'. ■■ '.'. M^> 













aass5JSj^4Z 







Legenda Aurea-Legende Doree-Golden Legend 



STUDY OF CAXTON'S GOLDEN LEGEND WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE 
TO ITS RELATIONS TO THE EARLIER ENGLISH 
PROSE TRANSLATION 



A DISSERTATION 



PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE 

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



PIERCE BUTLER 

FELLOW IN ENGLISn AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVEKSITY 



BALTIMORE 

JOHN MURPHY COMPANY 

1899 



Legenda Aurea-Legende Doree-Golden Legend 



A STDDY OF CAITON'S GOLDEN LEGEND WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE 

TO ITS RELATIONS TO THE EARLIER ENGLISH 

PROSE TRANSLATION 



A DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE 

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



PIERCE BUTLER 

FELLOW IN ENGLISH AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 



BALTIMORE 

JOHN MURPHY COMPANY 

1899 

v.- 










;44088 




TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Bibliography, v 

Introductory Note, 1 

Chapter I. Voragine and the Latin Versions : ----- I 

" " A. Voragine' s Life and Works, ------ 1 

" " B. Date of the Legenda Aurea, 4 

" " (7. Its Character and Scope, 7 

" " D. Literary History, 9 

" " E. The Standard Editions, 18 

Chapter II. French Versions : 20 

" " A. The so-called translation by Jean Belet, - - - 20 

" " B. Jean de Vignay's translation and its revisions, - - 35 

Chapter III. English Prose Versions : 49 

** " A. The 15th century version, in MS., - - . - 50 
" " B. Caxton's Golden Legende, his method of Composition 

and Sources, --------75 

Chapter IV. The " Etymologies " in Voragine, Vignay, and Caxton, - 87 

Chapter V. Legends from English and French Versions of the Legenda : 99 

" " A. St. Cuthbert, 99 

« " B. St. Aldelme, 101 

" " a St. Swythyn, 103 

" " D. St. Donston, 105 

" " E. St. Thomas of Canterbury, - 105 

" " F. The Seven Sleepers, 107 

" " G. St. Marine (English), - 114 

" " H. St. Marine (French), 116 

" " /. St. Patrick, 116 

" " /. St. Patrice (French MSS.), 122 

" " K. St. Patrice (Printed Vignay), 125 

" " L. The Holy Cross, 130 

Chapter VI. Remarks on the Texts. Results, - - - - - 141 

Appendix : New Manuscripts, 149 

Life, -- 155 

iii 



COEEECTIONS. 



p. 1, line 6, for or read of. 

P. 4, l. 3, For, read for; /, ^7, for repealed read repeated. 

P. 19, /. 5, for potentissimum read poteniissimi. 

P. 20, I. 4 from bottom, for Oudini read Oudinus. 

P. 32, /. 33, auoit anon, read auoit a non. 

P. 45, ^. 21, /or pp. read ff. 

P. 45, /. 29, and p. 46, 11. 12 awrf 26, Vignay's, read Vignays. 

P. 54, ^. 14, Alteny., read Alteng. 

P. 57, ^. 25, right, reacZ rightly ; and I. 26, cat., read catalogue. 

P. 66, note, add : See Ward, ii, 555, where this point is noted, as well as'Caxton's 

borrowings here. 
P. 87, I. 12, for C.'s read Caxton's. 
P. 93, note 1, for cewte read cent. 



IV 



BIBLIOGRAPHY.' 



Okaesse : Jacohi a Voragine Legenda Aurea .... recensuit Dr. Th. 

Graesse. Ed. secunda. Lipsiae, mdcccl. Svo. 
Brunet : La Legenda doree de Jacques de Voragine — trans. M. G. B., 

Paris, 1843, 2 vols. 
Ellis : The Oolden Legend of Master William Caxton, ed. Wm. Morris 

and F. S. Ellis, Kelmscott Press, 1892. 
Abpland: The Golden Legend, reprint of specimen pages from a 

Caxton (1st ed.) in the Manchester Free Library, ed. Alfred 

Aspland, for Holbein Society, London, 1878. 
Madge : Leaves from the Golden Legend, chosen by H. D. Madge, 

Westminster, 1898. A cheap and useful book of selections from 

Caxton 's (revised) text ; reviewed in Academy, Oct. 22nd, 1898, 

and Mod. Language Notes, April, 1899. 
HoRSTMANN : Program des Gymnasiums zu Sag an, 1877. Prints Bar- 

laam and Josaphat from MS. Egert. 876. 
HoRSTMANN : Altcnglische Legenden, Paderborn, 1875, and especially, 

id., Neue Folge, Heilbronn, 1881, pp. cxxx fol. 
St. Brendan : Caxton'a version reprinted in Dublin University Ma- 
gazine, vol. XXXIX, p. 547 f. : The Golden Legend as treated by 

Voragine, Caxton, and Longfellow. Not important except for 

reprint. 
Morris : Legends of the Holy Rood, Early Eng. Text Soc. No. 46, 

1871, pp. 154-170. Caxton's Jnvention and Exaltation of the Holy 

Cross. 
FuRNivALL : Chaucer Society, 1875, 2nd series. No. 10, p. 207 : text of 

de Vignay's and Caxton's Cecile. 

^ I have not attempted to give anything like an exhaustive bibliography, for 
none could be considered at all adequate which ignored the special references for 
each of the legends given below, and a bibliography of St. Patrick alone would 
fill several pages. I here give, therefore, merely a brief list of the chief works 
consulted. The references in the text itself are generally explicit enough in 
themselves. 

V 



vi . Bibliography. 

Blades: Life and Typography of Wm. Caxton, London, 1861-63. Cf. 

also the smaller revised ed. of 1882. Both are mines of informa- 
tion ; references in the text are usually to the larger ed. ; see also 

the indices. 
MuRATORi : Rerum Italicarum Scriptores — ed. Ludovicus Ant. Mura- 

torius, Mediolani, 1726. Contains the Chronicon Januense of 

Voragine, vol. ix. 
Touron: Histoire des Dominicains, Paris, 1743. For Voragine see 

vol. I, p. 603 seq. ; this is the fullest account except that by Echard. 
EcHARD : Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, Paris, 1719 seq., Echard 

and Quetif, quite invaluable for information about Voragine and 

his contemporaries. 
Histoire Litteraire de la jPVance, Paris, 1733-1881, vol. xiv, p. 218; 

vol. XVIII, 471-2 ; vol. xxv, 27, 29-30 — on Belet and de Vignay. 
Warton: Hist of Eng. Poetry, ed. Hazlitt, London, 1871, i, 246 f.; 

294; III, 104-5; and see Index. 
Ten Brink: English Literature, Eng. translation, N. Y., 1883-96; 

vol. I, 269 ; III, 6, etc. 
Dunlop: Hist, of Fiction, ed. Wilson, Bohn's Library, 1888; see 

Index. 
Ward : Catalogue of Romances in the MS. Dept. of the Brit. Mus., Lon- 
don, 1892 (references in the text for this and following works). 
Paris : Manuscrits francois dans la Bibliotheque du Roi, Paris, 1838. 
Brunet : Manuel du Libraire, Paris, 1864. 
Panzer : Annates Typographici, Nuremberg, 1793-99. 
Migne: Patrologiae cursus eompletus, series Latina, Paris, 1844-66, 

vols. 177, 202, etc. 
POLYCHRONICON : Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis ; with English 

Translations of John of Trevisa and of an Unknown Writer. Ed, 

C. Babington, Eolls Series, 1865 f. 



LEGENDA AUREA-LEGENDE DOREE- 
GOLDEN LEGEND. 



Introductory Note. 



The purpose of this study is, in the main, to show the sources 
and the method of composition of Caxton's Golden Legends, and 
this portion of the work is to be as careful and elaborate as circum- 
stances will permit. But the many fascinating subsidiary questions 
connected with the Legenda Aurea could not be passed by in silence ; 
and to these I shall devote some attention. Many oi them, more- 
over, are so intimately associated with the main problem, and have 
been so imperfectly treated by the few who have noticed them at 
all, that I must believe my present method to be fully vindicated 
by these conditions. I have observed the following divisions in 
this study. 

Chapter I. Voragine, and the Latin versions : A. Voragine^s Life 
and Works; B. Date of the Legenda Aurea, (7. Its character 
and scope; D. Literary History; E. The standard editions. 
Chapter II. French Versions: A. The so-called translation by 
Jean Belet; B: Jean de Vignay's translation and its revisions. 
Chapter III. English Prose Versions: A, The 16th century ver- 
sion, in MS. ; B. Caxton^s Golden Legende, his method of Compo- 
sition and sources. Chapter IV. The ^^Etymologies " in Voragine^ 
Vignayy and Caxton. 

Chapter I.— Voragine, and the Latin versions. 

A. The essential facts in the life of Jacobus de Voragine have 
been so frequently given that I shall here rehearse them only in 
the briefest manner. 

Jacobus a Voragine, or de Varagine (as he seems to style him- 
self), was born at Varaggio, a small town on the Gulf of Genoa, 

1 



2 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

not far from Savona. We know nothing of his parentage or early- 
life ; indeed, we do not even know the date of his birth. He was 
probably born about A. D. 1230, as he speaks of a solar eclipse 
occurring while he was still a child, in 1239 (Chronicon Januense, 
XII, cap. 4). From the same authority (Ibid., cap. v), we learn 
that he was still a mere youth when he entered the Dominican 
Order, in 1244. Under the Dominicans he soon distinguished him- 
self by his zeal for study and by his exemplary conduct. Later on 
he won some reputation as a professor of theology in various houses 
of his order; but his talent for preaching — especially cherished by 
the " Fratres Praedicatores " — was what drew special attention to 
him. In 1267 he became Provincial of his order in Lombardy, 
and held this office for eighteen years, when he became Definitor. 
In 1288, as he tells us with pardonable pride ((7/iron. xii, cap. 6), 
he was empowered by Pope Nicholas IV (through the Emperor 
Henry IV) to absolve the Genoese from the papal censures which 
they had incurred by aiding the Sicilians in their revolt against 
Charles II of Naples. 

About this time the Archbishop of Genoa died, and the chapter 
chose Jacobus a Voragine to succeed him. But the humble 
Dominican declined the honor, to the great regret of his fellow- 
citizens, and the Pope appointed Obezzon, ex-patriarch of Antioch. 
He died in 1292, and the chapter again chose Jacobus for their 
Archbishop, unanimously ; the Senate of Genoa voted its approval 
of the choice; the people rejoiced at it; and finally the reluctant 
monk yielded to the public will and became Archbishop of Genoa. 

He fully appreciated the importance of his new duties, saw how 
his influence might be strong for peace in his diocese, then dis- 
tracted by the violent factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, and 
exerted himself to quell these unfortunate troubles. It is one of 
the few things he tells us about himself, that he actually succeeded 
in patching up a peace between the warring factions. But the 
echoes of the Te Deum, chanted to celebrate the peace for which 
he had worked three years, were hardly gone before the conflict 
broke out again, and the streets of Genoa became again veritable 
fields of battle. It is said that the Archbishop once averted a 
conflict by throwing himself between the combatants at the risk of 
his life. In short, he was a model Archbishop, and a truer and 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 3 

nobler Christian than many of those whose deeds he re-told in the 
Legenda. There is an anecdote told here which, though believed 
to be untrue as applied to Jacobus, is nevertheless illustrative of 
the factional spirit of the age, and worth quoting. It is said that 
Jacobus a Voragine, having presented himself before the Pope, 
Boniface VIII (1294-1303), to take part in the usual ceremony 
-on Ash Wednesday, the Pontiff, suspecting that the Archbishop 
was too favorable to the Imperial party, threw the ashes into his 
face, saying, in place of the usual words : Momenta quia Gibellinus 
eSj et cum Gibellinis tuis in pidverem reverteris. Voragine occupied 
the archiepiscopal throne seven years, dying in 1298, on the 14th 
-July. He was buried in the Church of St. Dominick, at Genoa, 
on the left of the high altar. And so close the short and simple 
annals of a writer who, while he can lay small claim to originality 
— he himself says he compiled — or to great literary power, has 
exercised a great influence on literature. Even with us, the Golden 
Jjegend has a pleasantly familiar sound, witness Longfellow's 
choice of it for a title, though it has ceased to be for us what it 
undoubtedly was during several centuries and for many literatures : 
a rich mine of stories, a familiar household volume, ^^ full of .wise 
saws and modern instances," as it were, their Curiosities of Litera- 
turSy Book of Days, Phrase and Fable, or what not. But before 
discussing the character or influence of the Legenda Aurea, let me 
conclude the biographical sketch by enumerating the works of its 
author. 

We cannot determine the dates of composition of his works, and 
the following list is so far from being based on chronology that the 
Chronicon, which is placed first, must have been one of the last 
written, since it extends to 1296. (1) Chronicon Januense, his 
principal work, being a history of Genoa from the time of Janus, 
first king of Italy, and founder of the city, to the writer's own 
times. It is in 12 parts. The first 4 deal with Janus, the founder, 
and another "Janus, citizen of Troy," coming down to the conver- 
sion of the city, 'about 25 years after the passion of Christ.' Part 
V deals with the beginnings, growth, and culminating prosperity 
of the city, reaching to the author's own time. Part vr, the con- 
stitution of the city. Parts vii and viii, with the duties of citizens 
and rulers, and ix, with domestic duties. Part x, ecclesiastical 



4 Legenda Aurea — Legende DorSe — Golden Legend. 

history, from St. Valentine (c. 530) to 1133, when Genoa became 
the seat of an Archbishop. Part xi, Lives of the Bishops. Part 
XII, Lives of the Archbishops, including the author (For this 
analysis, see JEncycl. Brit). (2) Legenda Sanctorum^ sive Lom- 
bardica Historia — our Legenda Aurea. (3) Sermones de omnibus 
Sanctis (2 volumes). (4) Sei^mones de omnibus Lhangeliis Domini- 
calibus. (5) Sermones de omnibus Evangeliis. (6) Marialis, qui 
totus est de B. Maria compositus. (7) Defensorium Frat. Praedi- 
catores. (8) Summa virtutum et vitiorum Guil. Peraldi (but see 
Crane, J. de Yitry, p. xcvii). (9) De operibus et opusculis S. 
Augustini. (10) Historia Lombardica (?) [this is the sub-title of 
the Leg. Aur., and is usually considered as referring to the life of 
S. Pelagius Pope, cap. 181, p. 824; but Echard (vol. i, p. 457) 
believes there was a separate work with this title]. (11) Summa 
casuum conscientiae (for the guidance of his clergy). (12) Italian 
translation of portions of the Bible, ascribed to Jacobus by Sixtus^ 
Senensis; there is a copy in the British Museum. (13) Tabula 
super historias sacrae scriptm^ae. (14) Expositio in Symbolum 
Aihanasianum. 

In this list of Voragine's works, which I have based on the 
account given by Echard, the fullest life of our author, many of 
the items are quite unimportant, the only ones, certainly, by which 
he is now remembered being the Chronicon and the. Legenda. It 
may be as well to note here that the above-mentioned article by 
Echard in Quetifs Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum^ Paris, 1719 
seq., vol. I, 454 f., seems to be the basis of all subsequent accounts ; 
the essential facts are repealed in Touron's Histoh^e des DominicainSy. 
Paris, 1743, vol. i, 583 f., and in Brunet's Legende dor6e, Paris, 
1843. The Chronicon is in Muratori's Scriptores Rerum Italicarum,. 
vol. 9, 53. 

B. It is, perhaps, not a matter of prime importance to fix the 
date of the composition of the Legenda Aurea, but we should gladly 
welcome any evidence that would enable us to do so. The two 
scholars who might have said something authoritative on the 
question have not expressed definite opinions. Graesse, who 
intimates in his preface that he had collected material for extensive 
notes, did not, so far as I can discover, publish them. In the- 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende DorSe — Golden Legend. 5 

preface to his Beitrdge zur lAteratur und Sage des Mitteldlters 
(Dresden and Leipzig, 1850), ix, he again aUudes to his hope of 
publishing studies on the text and sources of the Legenda. Brunet, 
too, in La France liMraire au XV""^ si^ole, 221, says he purposes 
publishing studies on the Latin text. But he does nothing more 
than state, at the close of the Lntroduction to the L6gende dor^e, 
that the text from which he translates was " redig^ vers 1260." 
This date, I think, is rather too early. Voragine at this time 
would have been only about thirty years old. Such a work as 
this, whatever its shortcomings now, required most extensive 
reading, a thorough acquaintance with an immense mass of 
material, and no mean literary skill. For no one who has studied 
the Legenda, so concise and painstaking, and compared it with the 
verbose and chaotic collections which preceded it, can fail to 
acknowledge how vast is the improvement. A work so concise 
and, according to the standards of the day, so accurate and scholarly, 
does not seem to me to be from the pen of a young or untrained 
writer. 

But even if we cannot accept 1260 as a certain date, there are 
certain facts which preclude one much later. Most of those who 
have written on the subject have stated that the Legenda was 
composed '^ late in the thirteenth century." Probably they have 
been influenced in favor of this view by a misunderstanding of 
Jacobus^s own words. Speaking of himself, he says: ^^ Hie cum 
adhuc esset in Ordine suo, et postquam fuit in Archiepiscopatu, 
opera plura fecit.^^ Noticing only the second clause, it would be 
easy enough to imagine that he wrote "after he had become Arch- 
bishop," i. e. in 1292 (cf. Encycl. Brit). But this was evidently 
not Jacobus's meaning. And the list of his own works, which 
follows the sentence quoted above, begins (cf. Chron., xii, 9) with 
the Legenda : ^'Nam L^egendas Sanctorum non uno volumine com- 
pilavit, multa adjiciens in eisdem de Historia Tripartita et Scholas- 
tica, et de Chronicis multorum Auctorum.'^ From his own account 
then, this Legenda, heading the list of his works, was one of the 
earliest, if not the very first, compiled cum adhuc esset in ordine 
suo, and before he was made Archbishop. 

Efforts to relieve this uncertainty have only succeeded in shift- 
ing it to another hagiology, though I have succeeded in collecting 



6 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend, 

certain evidence. In the Prologus to the Catalogus Sanctorum of 
Petrus de Natalibus we find a list of the authorities from which 
he has compiled. Next to the last in a long list, which appears to 
be arranged with some reference to chronology, we find : ^^Demum 
frater iacobus de voragine ordinis predicatorum .... sanctorum 
gesta quorum solennia ab ecclesia recoluntur et in kalendariis ascri- 
buntur generaliter collegit et compendio breviavit.^^ The last author 
is : ^^Novissimus omnium frater Petrus calo VenetusJ^ Nowhere 
have I been able to discover the date of either Natalibus or Petrus 
Calo Venetus. Some assign Natalibus's Calendarium to " about 
1260 " — which is manifestly too early. The only thing of which I 
feel sure is that this work, the first, I believe, in which the Legenda 
is mentioned, was composed before the end of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, and before the work of Jacobus won its present epithet of 
^^ Aurea J^ 

Another clue, too, suggests itself. The life of St, Pelagius in the 
Legenda, cap. 181, is really a sort of chronicle. The last event 
mentioned therein is the deposition and death of the Emperor 
Frederick II (ob. a. d. 1250) : "Quo deposiio et defuncto sedes im- 
perii usque hodie vacat ^^ (Legenda, p. 844). We can therefore feel 
certain that this portion of the work was written not long after 
1250 (cf. G. H. Waitz, Monumenta Germaniae, xxiv, pp. 167-1 71^ 
ed. 1879). But we must remember, that this chapter of the Legenda 
may once have been a separate work, as Echard hints, and written 
much earlier than the main body of the Legenda, No argument 
can be safely based on the long chapter on Elizabeth of Hungary 
{Leg., p. 752 f.), who died in 1231, since, contrary to the usual rule,, 
she was canonized in 1235, and became at once a nucleus for mira- 
cles and a theme for legend writers. 

In conclusion, I will state that my own judgment leads me ta 
the view, yet unsupported by evidence, that the Legenda, even the 
portion which seems Jacobus's work, was a growth ; some portions 
were written early ; as occasion arose new legends were inserted ;. 
just as modern writers give us second and revised editions, so 
Jacobus, too, added to and perfected his work ("Legendas .... 
non uno volumine compilavit ''). And this process of revision may 
have continued until late in his life. But the Legenda was already 
completed, in all essentials, between a. d. 1260-1270. 



Legenda Aurea — Legende Doree — Golden Legend. 7 

C. The question of the sources of the Legenda Aurea is too large 
and too intricate to be satisfactorily treated here. Still, accepting 
the indications given by Jacobus himself (see quotation above, and 
Prologue to Legenda), I shall say a few words about one or two of 
the books from which he might have drawn. Nearly all the Saints 
in the Legenda will be found also in the Speculum Historiale of 
Vincent of Beauvais. The latter gives, indeed, many more than 
the Legenda, and the lives are usually much longer. But a few of 
the shorter legends, and a few of the better known, will be found 
to correspond almost word for word. I have compared, for exam- 
ple, the Seven Sleepers, In order to be chronologically accurate (!), 
Vincent gives the portion of the story up to the time when the 
youths fall asleep, under a. d. 252 (Lib. xi, cap. 45), and continues 
with their awakening in A. D. 447 (Lib. xx, caps. 31-33). Could 
a modern historian be more faithfully accurate ? The text of the 
Legenda agrees almost verbatim with Vincent's story ; but the 
latter, again observing chronology, gives also, in Lib. xxv, cap. 
20, the curious anecdote about Edward the Confessor (cf. Wra. of 
Malmesbury, ii, 13). The legend of St. Ursula, again, is identical 
with Spec. Hist, Lib. xx, 40-45. To these we may add : St. Julian 
the Bishop (^Spec. Hist., ix, 63), and Julian Hospitaller {Lbid., 65); 
St. Patrick {lb., xx, 23-24) ; St. Vitalis {lb., ix, 50) ; St. Petronella 
{lb., 38) ; St. Marina (lb., XV, 74) ; St. Apollinaris {lb., x, 7) ; the 
story of Simon Magus {Leg., p. 372-3, cf. Spec. Hist, ix, 12), 
etc., etc. In all these instances we find not merely the same story 
but, in general, the very words repeated in the Legenda. But even 
where there seems to be proof positive that Jacobus borrowed from 
Vincent, we cannot call him a servile copyist. One illustration of 
my meaning will suffice. After ending the story of the Seven 
Sleepers, Jacobus adds the following sentence to the account {Leg., 
p. 438) : " The statement that they slept 372 years may be ques- 
tioned ; for they arose in the year of our Lord 448, Decius, how- 
ever, reigned but one year and three months, namely, A. D. 252, 
and therefore they slept but 196 years." 

But the very limited time devoted to the question of Jacobus's 
sources does not entitle me to offer opinions. I shall merely state 
that while his book was confessedly a compilation, he used his 
sources with considerable judgment and care. 



8 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

The Legenda Aurea was intended to give in a convenient form 
the best information about the lives and miracles of the saints and 
martyrs. Similar work had been done before — to which Jacobus 
acknowledges his indebtedness — such as that of Simeon Metaphras- 
tes, and Vincent of Beauvais. But in none of these were the 
purposes quite the same. And the legends in these numerous 
collections, besides being often too marvellous even for the good 
digestion of the thirteenth century, are long and ill told. Those 
who question Voragine's merits would do well to look into the vast 
and verbose de Gloria Marty rum of Gregory of Tours, to cite but 
one of the better known. In short. Jacobus sought to sift and 
codify somewhat as Baronius did some three centuries later, or as 
Bishop Lee did. There are now dozens of just such works, handy 
one-volume martyrologies, whose pious editors vainly seek to pre- 
serve the pleasant fiction that their legends are sober facts.^ 

That Voragine inchided many stories which, to modern readers, 
seem both ridiculously incredible and often indecent, no one can 
deny; but in this age, at least, we have learned to make some 
allowances for the quite different point of view of the thirteenth 
century. His work shows very plainly that he took some pains to 
sift the immense mass of traditions which had obscured the real 
facts of the various lives. We find upon careful examination that 
he not only tells the stories quantum valeant, but even calls atten- 
tion to inconsistencies and improbabilities in them, being always 
careful to give his authority for the extraordinary particulars. We 
have seen one such instance in the case of the Seven Sleepers. 
Another striking instance, noted by Echard, is in the legend of St. 
Hllarius, where, after telling the story of the saint's answer to 
Pope Leo {Ijeg., p. 99) : ^'Et si sis Leo, non de tribu Juda,^ etc.. 
Jacobus remarks that this story seems apocryphal, as there was no 
Pope Leo at that time. And another instance, in which we may 
contrast Caxton's treatment : in the legend of the Finding of the 
Gross (p. 303-4), we are told the extraordinary story of the branch 
from the Tree of Life which Seth planted on Adam's grave, and 
from which the wood of the Cross was taken ; Jacobus then adds : 

^ One such came under my notice recently : ed. Rev. Robert Owen, B. D., Lon- 
don, 1880; he duly records Barlaam and Josaphat under Nov. 27th, but "suspects " 
that it is but the Buddha legend, and suggests the likeness to Rasselas. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 9 

'''It is left to the judgment of the reader whether this be true or 
not, as these things are not to be found in any chronicle or authentic 
history." Caxton, however, omits all this, and passes on in silence 
(see Morris, E. E. T. 8. No. 46, p. 155). Can we blame Voragine 
because his ideas of an authentic history were so radically different 
from ours? For my own part, far from thinking him too credu- 
ulous, I have sometimes been astonished at the boldness of his 
suggested doubts, in an age when there was no impunity for incre- 
dulity, much less a premium on it. 

The Legenda Aurea was meant to be not merely a repository of 
saints' legends. It was meant to be used almost as a service book, 
as can be seen from its very plan, and its prologue. The book is 
<3ivided into five sections, each headed by a special treatise in the 
nature of a sermon on the special feast day which it applies to : 
thus section i begins with de Adventu, and includes chapters i-v ; 
then section ii extends from Christmas to Septuagesima, caps, vi- 
XXX ; section iii, from Septuagesima to Easter, caps. xxxi-Liii ; 
section iv, Easter to the octave of Pentecost, caps, liv-lxxvi ; 
and section v, Pentecost to Advent, caps, lxxvii-clxxx. And 
in the Prologue the author calls attention, very quaintly, to these 
fivQ sections, and to the scriptures to be read in connection with 
them. " There is no doubt," says Aspland (^Golden Legend^ Holbein 
Soc, 1878, p. 35), 'Hhat [the Legenda^ was read in churches, and 
studied as a religious book." 

D. Manuscripts of the Legenda Aurea are so numerous that it 
would be an immense labor merely to mention them ; nor would 
there be anything gained in such an enumeration unless one could 
give reliable details. I shall, therefore, mention only one or two 
of the oldest known to be in England. Luard, in his Catal. of 
Cambridge MS8., vol. ii, 493, describes one of these early Mss. : 
No. 1321 — Ff. V. 31 : "A small folio, on parchment, containing 
ff. 181, with double columns of 41 11. each. Written A. D. 1299. 
* Vite Sanctorum Auree (sio) compilate a quodam Fratre Predi- 
catore.' sc. Jacobo de Voragine. . . . At the end is ' Istud librum 
scripsit Helias Toreni presbiter a. d. mccxcix. anima ejus requi- 
escat in pace. Amen." In a correction (vol. v, 596) Luard adds : 
^^ This copy, which professes to have been transcribed a year after 



10 Legenda Auy^ea — L^gende Dorte — Golden Legend. 

the author's death, contains only 123 legends, while the ordinary- 
genuine text contains 177. There are many remarkable differences 
in the text ; and it is possible that this is an early recension of the 
author's. None of the other copies in Cambridge contain a cor- 
responding text.'' Another early MS. is mentioned by Ward, ii, 
464, Egert. 1117. The Egert. Catal. does not specify it as a Legenda 
MS., but agrees with Ward in dating it as of the end of the thir- 
teenth century. Stowe MS. 49 is described as a copy of the Lfgenda, 
early 14th century, and M8. Add. 11,882 is dated 1312. In the 
Bodleian we find Cod. Can. Lat. (ILiscel.) No. 183: "Codex 
membranaceus, in folio minori, ff. 238, anno 1309 manu Johannes 
Chanaverii binis columnis exaratus." 

Even at this early date — in the beginning of the fourteenth 
century — MSS. of the Legenda. were, as we have indicated, very 
common, and its popularity was evidently widespread. It will be 
noted that the title of the Legenda was originally Legenda Sanc- 
torum, sive Historia Lombardica. The present title is due to it& 
popularity, just as in the case of the famous work of Apuleius (see 
Dunlop, II, 253-4, and i, 96, Bohn's ed.). We do not know when 
and how the epithet aurea was applied to Voragine's work^ 
Echard says (i, 456, and Touron, 593) : Nam quod notandum est^ 
hoc epithetum libro suo non indiderat auctor, neque etiam hahent 
codices manuscripti, aut primae Editiones, sed fructus maximus inde 
reportatus tribuerat. But that it received its complimentary title 
very early, perhaps even during the life of the author, is shown by 
the earliest MS. noticed above, where it is called Vite Sanctorum 
Auree. And the so-called translation by Jean Belet (of which we 
shall have more to say later), which was made early in the 1 4th 
century, begins : "Ci commence la legende des sains doree " (Paulin 
Paris, II, p. 88). And the title must have been already quite well 
known, for it is here stolen, and used as if everyone would know 
who were the saints whose "golden legends" are translated "de 
latin en fran9ois." By the time we get to the translation by Jean, 
de Yignay (made before 1340; we find the title fixed in its modern 
form. A MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale {Fr. No. 241), written 
"Ian de grace nostre seigneur mil. ccc. xlviij," has this heading 
over the table of contents : " Ci commencent les chapitres de la 
legende des sains qui est dite legende doree " (see below, and cf.. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 11 

Paris, II, 89) ; and the translator's prologue, which we find adopted 
by Caxton, explains the title: "Car aussi comme Tor est le plus 
noble sur tons les autres ra^taux, aussi est cette legende tenue pour 
plus noble sur toutes autres.'' The first English version (before 
1438) preserves the epithet, e. g. Douce MS. 372 : " callid in latynne- 
Legenda aurea, and in English the gilte legende." And Caxton 
simply translates Jean de Yignay's words : *' Here begynneth the 
legende named in latyn legenda aurea, that is to say in englyshe 
the golden legende for lyke as passe th golde in vail we al other 
metallys, so thys legende exedeth all other bokes." 

Its popularity, then, was both early won and remarkably great. 
The name may have been giv^en by clerks, as has been suggested 
(Touron, 594). But the great number of translations and deriva- 
tives, in all the principal tongues of Europe, in prose and in verse^ 
seems to me sufficient proof that its popularity was not confined to 
the learned, or to the preachers who wished to borrow anecdotes 
and tales from it. Is it not a rather remarkable fact that, in a day 
when the vernacular was scorned by most writers, Voragine's work 
should have been translated into French prose within a generation 
after his death ? 

The lustre of the Legenda Aurea extended to other of Voragine's 
works. Probably by reflection from the more famous Ljegenda, his 
sermons were called aitm (see Panzer, iv, 212, No. 1310 : J. de F. 
sermones aurei de tempore, and cf. Brit. Mus. Cat.); and the same 
epithet was applied to the Mariale {lb., iii, 417). The Middle 
Ages, indeed, were fond of conferring such complimentary names. 
We have already noticed the Golden Ass, and similar titles and 
epithets will suggest themselves to everybody : the Doctor Seraphi(y 
(Bonaventura); the Dr. Angelic (Aquinas); Fra Angelico; and 
later, the great wit and religious "trimmer" of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, that none might mistake his right to exist, named himself 
Desiderius Erasmus. 

When the printing-press began its work the Ljegenda Aurea was 
among its earliest productions, and long continued to be one of the 
most frequently reproduced. It stands early in Panzer's chrono- 
logical list of dated books (iv, 12), and was printed more than fifty 
times in the course of the 15th and 16th centuries. Touron says r 
" II n'y eut point de livre apres I'Ecriture Sainte, et ceux des- 



12 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorte — Golden Legend. 

usages ordinaires, dont il se fit plus de copies ou plus de versions." 
Among the many editions, one, undated, is assigned to about 1469 
(a copy in the Bodleian, printed by Zainer, at Ulm), and a dated 
one appeared at Lyons in 1473. Another is dated 1474, no place 
or printer^s name. But for all such details I shall refer to the 
bibliographical authorities, merely stating here, that de Vignay's 
French version (revised by " le Pere Battalier," cf. Echard, i, 853, 
and Brunet's Manuel) was printed at Lyons in 1476, and fre- 
quently thereafter; an Italian version was printed by Nicolo 
Manerbi, Venice, 1475; a Bohemian one at Pilsen, 1475, 1479, 
Prague, 1495; a German one at Cologne, 1485; a Dutch one at 
Goude, 1478 ; and Caxton^s English, 1483. And the high esteem 
in which the book was held is shown not only by the fact that so 
many editions were printed, but also that so many copies of them 
still exist (see the score or more dating from 1474 (?) to 1501, in 
the British Mus. Cat). 

But the popularity of the Legenda had other consequences. In 
the first place, it bred, or rather fostered, the love for legends which 
was already in the air (cf. ten Brink's Hist. JEng. Lit., i, 266 f.), 
and produced a number of imitations. The Catalogus of Natalibus 
may be classed as one of these, and we are all familiar with 
numerous later and less comprehensive ones, such as, to take an 
English example, Osbern Bokenham's Lyvys of Women Seyntys. 
And, in the second place, a corollary from this, we soon find some 
of the soberer dignitaries of the Church seeking to curb the inordi- 
nate love of the Legenda. Echard tells us that an Archbishop of 
Oompostella, almost contemporary with our Jacobus, took the lead 
in this direction. This prelate, Berengarius de Landora (b. 1262, 
d. c. 1330; see Echard, i, 514), ordered Bernardus Guidonis ^^ ut 
Legendam alteram ex siricerioribus actis colligeret et ederety quod et 
Jecit .... quod tamen non impedivit ne Legenda Jacobi de Voragine 
sua brevitate commoda passim ab omnibus conquireretur et avide 
legereturj^ Here we have the story of one defeated rival, who 
happens to be also one of the early authorities for the life of 
Jacobus, having written a Brevis Historia of the Dominicans (see 
Echard, i, 576, and his work in Durand's Veterum Script. (1729), 
VI, 405). But even if none of its imitators succeeded in rivalling 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende DorSe — Golden Legend. 1^ 

the popularity of the Legenda Aurea, the note of disapproval was 
even thus early sounded. 

It was not long indeed, before murmurs began to be heard 
impeaching the famous book of high crimes and misdemeanors. 
Many, no doubt, objected to it before, but it was the great con- 
vulsion of the Reformation-Renaissance that, loosening all re- 
straints, freed men's tongues and drew forth their inmost thoughts. 
A Carlyle might say, as he did say of the French Revolution, that 
the Reformation Age felt that its high mission was to sweep aside 
all shams. Not even the revered dicta of the Doctor Seraphic and 
his followers were exempt from the rude iconoclasm of the age,^ 
while his rival, the Doctor Suhtilis, alias Duns Scotus, suffered an 
even more cruel fate. When whole philosophies, built up with 
such excruciating ingenuity, were borne to the ground, what could 
be the fate of a book like the Legenda f One of the first and most 
violent attacks of the reformers would naturally be directed against 
this sadly vulnerable point in the Church's array, viz: the absurd 
legends of the saints. Hear Erasmus's protest : " To these again 
are nearly related such others as attribute strange virtues to the 
shrines and images of saints and martyrs ; and so would make their 
credulous proselytes believe, that if they pay their devotion to St. 
Christopher in the morning, they shall be guarded and secured the 

day following from all dangers and misfortunes And all 

the prayers and intercessions that are made to these respective saints 
the substance of them is no more than downright Folly." {Enco- 
mium Moraey Eng. trans., p. 82). Here he has gone one step in 
advance, and attacks the very saints themselves, instead of their 
legends. 

Erasmus, so far as I have been able to discover, does not attack 
the Golden Legend directly and specifically ; though there may be 
some allusion to it in that vast wilderness of letters, the index doe& 
not show it. But we shall soon see that his friends and pupils had 
something to say against the Legenda, A certain Jacobus Laco- 
pius of Oudenarde, having become a Protestant, wrote a most 
violent book against Voragine's work, entitled Deflorationes Le- 
gendae Aureae. But being later convinced of his error (probably 
through the rack), and reconciled to the Catholic Church, he cast 
his book into the flames as he himself went to death. A much 



14 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend, 

better known man, Claude d'Espence (1511-1571, see Michaud, 
Biog. Universelle), rector of the Sorbonne (1540), preached a sermon 
in St. Mery in 1543, and indiscreetly spoke of the Legenda "avec 
m^pris," calling it the Legenda Ferrea. " Edward Leigh," says 
Longfellow {Riverside Press ed., v, 441), "in much distress of 
mind, calls it ' a book written by a man of a leaden heart for the 
baseness of the errours, that are without wit or reason, and of a 
brazen forehead, for his impudent boldnesse in reporting things 
so fabulous and incredible/ " Both d'Espence and Leigh borrowed 
their ideas and their words. Melchior Cano (ob. 1560) was one 
of the severest critics of the whole attitude of the popular legenda- 
ries, and exposed the credulity and carelessness of their compilers 
(in a work on the principles and sources of the theologians, called 
de Locis TheologiciSj espec. ca}). 6, book ii). Later critics have 
quoted his words applied directly to the Legenda Aurea ; and 
Dupin says (Touron, p. 599) : " Voici le jugement qu'en porte 
Melchior Cano : Cette L^gende, dit-il, a 6t6 toite par un homme 
qui avait la bouche de fer, et le coeur de plomb, et dont Fesprit 
n'^tait ni juste ni prudent. On y lit plutot des monstres de mira- 
cles, que de vrais miracles." But we have not yet run to earth 
this sarcasm. Touron says Duj^in has "attribue a Melchior Cano 
-des expressions tres-dures, qui ne sont pas de lui, mais de Vives, 
auteur Espagnol habitue en Flandres." In the Introduction to 
Bollandus's Acta Sanctorum^ i, xxi, the author records and answers 
the severe criticisms of Georgius Wicelius (1501-1573), who, like 
his friend Erasmus, had the misfortune to stand between the two 
opposing factions, and so caught the abuse from both ; for he was 
cordially hated by the monks, and clapped into prison by Luther. 
The account then continues : " More severe and bitter, however, is 
the judgment pronounced against the Legenda Aurea by Johannes 
Ludovicus Vives, lib. ii de Causis Corruptarum Aviium^ in these 
words : ' How unworthy of Christian men is that history of the 
«aints which is called the Golden Legend, which I know not why 
they call ' golden,^ since it is written by a man of iron mouth and 
leaden heart. What can be more vile than that book?'" But 
the Bollandist is hurt by this acerbity in so learned a writer, and 
remarks : " Hauserat id fortassis a Desiderio JErasmo praeceptore 
^uOy severissimo AristarchoJ^ 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 15 

The opinion of Yives, who was well known in England, of 
<50urse (he was professor at Oxford from 1523 to 1529), is repeated 
by Bp. Jewel : " Ludovieus Vives, writing of your Legenda Aurea, 
which was the mother of all your devout ecclesiastical stories or 
fables, saith thus :'' etc. (see Parker Soc. ed., 1850, p. 816). And 
Thomas Becon, before he learned the error of his ways, wrote : 
"** The Synagogue of Satan hath a great delight to hear .... nar- 
rations out of English Festival, saints' lives out of Legenda Aurea,'' 
etc. (see Parker Soc, 1844, p. 199-200, and cf. pp. 234, 519 and 
535). The Protestants at Geneva, too, loved to fill the margins of 
the Legenda with sarcastic and ironical remarks, so that many of 
the old editions are quite curious on this account (see Oeuvres de 
La Fontaine, Grands Eorivains series, 1887, iv, p. 334, note). And, 
of course, that " sturdy iconoclast " and vicious critic, John Bale, 
has no good word for the saints. In his English Votaries (London, 
1550, p. 23 f.) he has an amusing account of: 

"Ursula and her xi thousand companions," of whom "have 
the spiritual Hypocrites by the healpe of their spirituall father 

the Deuyll practised innumerable lies They saye, they 

all vowed virginite, . . . and so went ... to Rome on pilgrim- 
age with greate deuotion ii and ii together, and were honourably 
receiued ther of the Pope and his cleargy. If thys be not good 
ware, tel me. I thincke there wanteth no spirytual occupying, for 
the time they were there, if the story were true. . . . Diuerslye 
is this holy legende handled of Jacobus Bergomas, . . . Vorago, 
. . . Caxton, Capgraue, .... and a great sort more. . . . Their 
going out of Brytany was to become honest Christen mens wiues, 
and not to go no Pilgrimage to Rome.'' 

There is no such virulence of word or feeling .in the passage I 
shall quote from the great reformer himself. 

Luther undoubtedly felt about the Legenda just as Vives and 
Erasmus did. Here are a few significant passages from his Table 
Talk (Bohn's ed., 1857, p. 328). " Few of the legends are pure ; 
the legends of the martyrs are least corrupted, who proved their 
faith by the testimony of their blood. The legends of the hermits, 
who dwell in solitudes, are abominable, full of lying miracles and 
fooleries, touching moderation, chastity and nurture." 



16 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 

He clings to the legend of St. Christopher ^ but not as a true story^ 
merely as a beautiful allegory of man's journey through the world, 
bowed down beneath a burden, and crossing a raging sea (the world), 
whose waves are the ills of the world and the wiles of the devil. 

" 'Tis one of the devil's proper plagues that we have no good 
legends of the saints, pure and true. Those we have are stuffed so 
full of lies, that, without heavy labour, they cannot be corrected. 
.... He that disturbed Christians with such lies was doubtless a 
desperate wretch, who surely has been plunged deep in hell. Such 
monstrosities did we believe in Popedom, but then we understood 
them not. Give God thanks, ye that are freed and delivered from 
them and from still more ungodly things." 

But one might fill a volume with more or less direct and more 
or less scurrilous references to the Legenda, and the carrying of 
coals to Newcastle is certainly no less tedious than unnecessary. A 
few of the later hits at the Legenda must not, however, be over- 
looked. And first among these I should mention a famous pam- 
phlet by a certain crop-eared Roundhead : the Legenda Lignea^ 
London, 1652-3, by W. Prynne. Its very title is evidence that 
Voragine's work was still familiar ; and the scurrilous notices of 
certain well-known ^* sillie seekers, . . . slips of the time, trans- 
planted to Rome/' are still read, but not as the author intended ; 
for we now seek in this pamphlet not comforting bits of bitter 
Protestantism, but scattered biographical facts about some of the 
well-known men of the day : stray notes about Crashaw, Davenant, 
Rowlands, Kenelm Digby, Endimion Porter, and others of less note, 
are preserved in the lava of Prynne's bitter outpourings. 

Another work which makes free with the title of our Legenda i& 
the Legende Doree de St. Dominique^ by Nicholas Vignier, Leyden, 
1608. This is rather anti-monastic than strictly anti-Catholic in 
tone, and we do not find the usual violent denunciations of Vora- 
gine, whom Vignier quotes, from an edition printed at " Lion, par 
Nicolas de Benedictis, aux despens de Jacques Huguetan Fan 1505." 

In the true spirit of the age of Voltaire — the Voltaire who 
scrupled not to defame Jeanne Dare — is : La Nouvelle Legende 
Dor^e, by Sylvain Marechale, Bruxelles, 1790. It deals only with 
the women saints, whose legends naturally furnish an easier mark 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 17 

for such a critic, and contains a mock-pious dedication to " mon 
icher pasteur'^ from the (ex tempore) nephew of Baillet the hagiog- 
Tapher, "le grand denicheur de saints.'^ The author is a past- 
master in the double entendre, and this is the sum and substance of 
his wit, of which a fair sample is the motto suggested for Maria 
Aegyptiaca, vol. ii, p. 46 : ^^Lassiata, sed non satiata virisj^ But 
^here is a touch of frank fun in the statement (ii, p. 138) that St. 
Theresa and her brother inspired their imaginations by reading 
" la vie des saints et les avantures de Robinson Crusoe/' The 
sneaking irreverence of the whole style, however, rather makes one 
sympathize with the remark of a former owner, who has written 
on the title-page of the second volume (Bodleian copy) : " Of such 
a work as this one has said : Surely this Book was printed in Hell 
and the author was the Devil." 

The last work of this kind that I shall mention has a special 
interest. It is a pamphlet entitled Catholic Miracles, by G. Cruik- 
shank, London, 1825. There are seven characteristic illustrations 
by the author, whose work was written chiefly to answer Cobbett's 
History of the Reformation. He gives, in modernized form, 25 
stories of miracles from the Golden Legend, and 2 whose sources 
are not indicated. The laughable miracles of St. Nicholas are 
largely represented ; and we find, too, the Seven Sleepers. The 
stories are taken from Wynkyn de Worde's edition of the Golden 
Legend, 1527. 

Let me close this over long list by two quotations from modern 
writers of widely different ideas. Isaac Disraeli says (Curiosities 
•of Lit., p. 149) : ^' The enviable title of Golden Legend, by which 
James de Voragine called his work, has been disputed ; iron or 
lead might more aptly describe its character " — what long life there 
is in a sarcasm ! Finally, Mme. Blavatsky, whose scurrility is 
quite as bad as the alleged indecency of Voragine, says (Isis Un- 
veiled, II, p. 74) : " The finest quintessence of Boccaccio's Decam- 
eron appears prudery itself by comparison with the filthy realism 
of the Golden Legend.'^ With less rhetoric and more justice she 
brands it as " that prolific repository of pious lies, the Golden 
Legend." 

The recording of all these long buried sarcasms has, I fear, 
«eemed a tedious and futile labor. But, in a sketch of the history 
2 



18 Legenda Aurea — Legende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

of the Legenda Aurea, I did not think they should be omitted^ 
For they may help us to account for a very curious result, to which, 
of course, other and more powerful causes contributed, viz : the 
sudden decline of the popularity of the Legenda. If you will look 
in Brunet and the Brit. Mus. Cat, you will note one remarkable 
fact, that the Brit. Mus., for example, has a Latin edition, Lyons, 
1526; another, Lyons, 1554; and then there is a gap in dates of 
nearly three hundred years, to Graesse's ed., Dresden, 1846. The 
hostility of the critics whose opinions I have given, perhaps not 
less than the general decline of the taste for legends, had evidently 
so destroyed the popularity, nay, the very good name of the Legenda 
Aurea, that it ceased to be a paying publication for the printer. 
For nearly three hundred years, if we may take this Catalogue as 
a gauge, the public wanted no more of this Golden Legend, whether 
in Latin, French, or English. 

Though probably little read during its long eclipse, it never 
ceased to be criticised. And its name has survived as a vague and 
pleasant memory of those old days, and of the monks whom some 
of us are quite ready to envy : 

" I envy them, those monks of old ; 
Their books they read, and their beads they told." 

E. The standard edition of the Latin text is that of Graesse, 
Dresden and Leipzig, 1846 (second ed. in 1860). This edition 
contains, in all, 243 legends, of which 182 are ascribed to Jacobus^ 
the rest being by various unnamed scribes. And of the 182 about 
20 are rather doctrinal or theological sermons than legends, viz : 
cap. I, de adventu domini ; cap. vi, de nativiiate domini ; cap. xiii, 
de circumcisione dommi ; cap. xiv, de epiphania domini ; cap. xxxi, 
de septuagesima ; cap. xxxii, de sexagesima ; cap. xxxiii, de quin- 
quagesima ; cap. xxxiv, de quadragesima ; cap. xxxv, de jejunio 
quatuor temporum; cap. xxxvii, de purificatione beatae Mariae ; 
cap. LI, de annuntiatione dominica; cap. Liii, de passione domini: 
cap. Liv, de resurrectione domini; cap. LXX, de letania maioii et 
minori; cap. LXXii, de adscensione domini; cap. LXXiir, de sando 
spirito; cap. cxix, de assumtione beatae Mariae; cap. cxxxi, de 
nativiiate beatae Mariae; cap. CLXXXii, de dedicatione ecclesiae. 
But, of course, legendary matter is blended in most of these ; and 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 19 

this is especially the case with those chapters dealing with the 
Virgin, when a list of miracles is almost invariably appended. 

The title-page of Graesse's edition reads : Jacobi a Voragine / 
Legenda Aurea / Vulgo Historia Lombardica Dicta. / Ad optimo- 
rum librorum fidem / recensuit / Dr. Ih.^ Gh^aesse, / potentissimum 
regis Saxoniae bibliotheeariusj Cam approbatione Rev. adminis- 
trator is ecclesiastici / per superior em Lusatiam. // Dresdae et Lip- 
siae I impensis Librariae Arnoldianae. / mdcccxlvi. 

In his very short Preface Graesse tells us that he feared the work 
would be too voluminous with his notes, so he omits them, which 
is a matter of serious regret. The only important indications he 
gives are contained in the following bit : " TJnde nunc sufficiet monu- 
issCj me manum auctoris optime redditam iiivenisse in editione ilia ab 
Eberto {Lexic. Bibliogr. T. L,p. 872 sq., nr. 10672'^) (vol. i, p. 831, 
ed. 1837 ; assigned to 1472) accuratius descripta atque in publica 
bibliotheca regia Di^esdensi asservata. Qua de re textum ad. hunc 
librum, quern in notitulis Edit. Princ. nomine designavi, constituendum 
atque ope optimae notae codicum emendandum censui/^ etc. The 
work of Voragine himself ends with the following colophon, which 
is not in what Graesse calls the first edition : Explicit Legenda aurea 
sive Lombardica historia Jacobi de Voragine ordinis praedicatorum 
episcopi Januensis. Similar words occur in all the editions I have 
seen, including the one printed at Ulm about 1469 (in Bodleian, 
see above). Graesse adds, in dreadfully small print, 61 legends a 
quibusdam aliis superadditae, but makes no effort to identify their 
authors or establish their dates. None of these legends have the 
etymological introductions usual in the original work (" etymologias 
illas perversissimaSj quibus maxime claudicat Jacobus noster/') and 
of which I shall have more to say later. 

The manifest shortcomings of Graesse's edition are only in part 
compensated for by the French translation, which appeared three 
years earlier {La legende doree .... traduite par M. G. B(runet,) 
Paris, 1843), for here, too, there are no indications of sources, and, 
alas, the etymologies are not translated — perhaps, because M. Bru- 
net found them too tough to translate. But the biographical sketch 
is useful, being perhaps the most accurgite I have seen. As to the 
contents of this translation as compared with the Latin, I must sum 
up here by saying, that there are few differences, except in order, 



20 Legenda Aurea — Ligende DorSe — Golden Legend. 

until we near the end. Then we find that the last thirteen legends 
of the French are not found in the Latin at all ; most of these 
appear to be such as were not by Voragine or his earlier imitators ; 
on p. 268, vol. ii, is a note, saying : ^' Les legendes qui suivent ne 
sont pas Foeuvre de Jacques de Voragine." The French omits 
some of the treatises on special days (e. g. cap. ccxvii, de Dominica 
in ramis palmarum) and special rites and ceremonies (e. g. cap. 
CCXViii, de Coena Domini). 

The text from which the French translation was taken must have 
been, essentially, the same as that given by Graesse; for wherever 
compared they will be found to correspond pretty closely, except 
that the French take less pains in arranging the order of the differ- 
ent episodes in the various legends (this may be noticed in many 
legends, as St. Ursula, Seven Sleepers, Simon Magus, etc.). 

Chapter II. The French Versions. 

A. One of the authors most frequently named in the Legenda 
Aurea is magister Johannes Beleth (see, e. g., in Graesse, p. 16, note, 
pp. 304, 312, 374, etc., and in Brunet, i, pp. 19, 108, 117, 294, 
etc. And yet the first French version of the Legenda is ascribed, 
too, to a Jean Belet, or Beleth, though the Encyclopedia B/iL does 
solve the matter by naming an imaginary ^' Jean Belet de Vigny " 
as the first translator. Now it does seem very odd that two per- 
sons of the same name should be thus intimately associated with 
the Golden Legend : and thereby hangs a tale. The John Beleth 
cited in the text of the Legenda is rather an obscure person. The 
best sketch of him will be found in the Histoire LiMraire de France, 
vol. XIV, p. 218, by Daunou. He places Beleth as flourishing 
circa 1182, though noting that others have given 1200; between 
1195 and 1210 ; in the 13th century ; even in the 14th century, in 
1320-28 ; but he is mentioned by Alberic de Trois-Fontaines (end 
of the 13th century). And in the list of his works there is no hint 
of a translation of the Legenda. For other notices I shall refer to 
Casimir Oudini : Commentarii de Scriptoi'ibus Ecclesiasticis (Leip- 
zig, 1722), vol. II, 1589; .Dupin's Hist, of Ecclesiastical Writers 
(Dublin, 1724), ii, 426 ; Paris's MSS. Frangois, ii, 87 ; Michaud's 
Biographie Univ., iii, 530. This Belet was a theological writer. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende DorSe — Golden Legend. 21 

and we have one well-known work by him : Rationale Divinorum 
Officiorum (Summa Officium), which will be found in Migne's Patrol, 
Lat.j vol. ccii, 9-1 66 ; it is also known as Summa de Officiis, and 
by similar titles. It is to this work that Jacobus often refers. MS. 
Addit. 29,882 (Brit. Mus.) is a 13th century copy of Beleth's 
Summa de Officiis, which I have examined. And, though my 
work in this field is lamentably imperfect, I have taken the trouble 
to verify some of Voragine's references. The matter is such an 
important one, especially in view of the suggestion I shall make 
later, that I shall give the most striking passages which have been 
identified. 

The references will be to Migne's edition. In the legend of 
Julian Apostata we find (p. 143) a reference to Beleth ; cf. the lat- 
ter's words (cap. 125, col. 131-2): ^^ Ferunt Julianum monachum 
fuisse et magnum religionis simulatorem, adeo ut quaedam mulier ires 
alias auro onastas, ita ut in earum orificiis aurum cinere eooperiretWy 
ne facile inveniretuVj apud eum deposuerit/^ etc., almost literally 
adopted by Jacobus. Compare also Leg. p. 146 (and 152), where 
Beleth is cited, with his words (cap. 78, col. 84; see also cap. 77, 
and col. 62) : Sic quoque aliam habet originem Septuagesima. Nam 
cum propter venerationem diei Asceiiscionis, in qua natura nostra 
coelos ascendit exaltata vel ultra choros angelorum, etc. Again, Leg, 
p. 312, where Voragine seems to have slightly misunderstood, and 
Beleth, cap. 126, col. 133 : Praeterea animadvertamus Christi apos- 
tolos sive discipulos non ideo fuisse passos, quod Christum praedica- 
bantj sed quod ipsum deificabant ac Deum esse aiebant sine Roman- 
orum auctoritate. Compare Legenda p. 421-2 with the following 
(cap. 140, col. 144) : ^^ Tandem [Jacobus~\ ab ipso Herode fuit obtrun- 
catus. Tam magi illiy qui jam ejusfacti erant discipulij cum aliis 
tribus eisdem discipulis, cum corpore in navim ascenderunty et sese 
sine rectore mari commiserunt, ut ei divina provldentia sepulturae 
locum hibueret. Tandem navis ilia Hispaniae applicuit ad regnum 
Lupae. JErat autem tum tempoi'is regina quaedam in Hlspania 
isthoc nomine J cujus vita et mores nomini plene conveniebant/' etc. — 
almost a page has been taken, with few changes, by Voragine. 
Finally, Leg., p. 574, and Beleth, cap. 147, col. 151 : ^^ Non desunt 
qui putant B. Theclam digitum S. Joannis, qui comburi non potuit, 
ex oris trannmarinis detulisse in Mauritaniam,^^ etc. Several more 



22 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend. 

might be added, and one short one will be pardoned me (cap. 164, 
col. 165 — Leg.y p. 16, note) : " Cognoscere operae pretium est Andream 
colore fuisse nigro, harha prolixa ac statura mediocri/' a quotation 
which Graesse, for some unexplained reason, refuses to admit as a 
genuine portion of the text. 

This is quite enough evidence to prove how thoroughly conver- 
sant Voragine was with this theological work of Beleth's. But we 
have now to discuss, after this seemingly aimless digression, the 
so-called Ugende des sains dores (or dorSe) of maistre Jean Belet. 
When I first examined this French Ugende I discovered at once 
that it was in many points different from the Legenda, and the 
differences augmented in a startling manner as I grew more familiar 
with the MS. It certainly is not a translation of the work of Vor- 
agine. The whole work is much longer. There are many new 
saints, and yet several old ones are omitted. A large number of 
the better known legends are treated at far greater length than in 
the Legenda, and some of them, even when no longer, differ radi- 
cally in essential points. The differences are, indeed, far greater 
than in the case of the revised de Vignay versions, such as the one 
whose plan Caxton followed ; for here the changes are chiefly 
changes in order, and added lives, not expansion of those already 
compiled by Voragine. Basing my opinion on these general differ- 
ences, as well as on slight bits of particular evidence which I shall 
give, I have been led to believe that we have in this version either 
an entirely new compilation made in French, or, possibly, a trans- 
lation from such a compilation in Latin. It might not be too 
much to suggest that this Latin original was the work of Jean 
Beleth the theologian, one of the sources of the Legenda, and per- 
haps referred to by Jacobus in certain references which I have not 
been able to verify — notably, in the Legend of the Cross, on p. 304. 
It is quite possible, however, that the work really followed the 
Legenda in time, and that the name of Belet became associated with 
the whole work as translator merely because of the frequent occur- 
rence of his name in legends taken from Voragine. 

Here is the table of contents of this version, and description of 
the various MSS. I have examined. 

MS. Fran9ais No. 183, Biblioth^ue Nationale (ancien num^ro 
6845). This MS. has been described by Paris (ii, p. 87 ff.), and I 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 23 

shall quote him, correcting a few small errors. " La legende dor^e, 
de J. de Voragine, traduite par Jean Belet. Un volume in-folio 
maximo, velin, trois colonnes (48 lines), miniatures, vignettes et 
initiales, xiv™® siecle. Relie en maroquin citron, aux armes de 
France sur les plats." The MS. is, indeed, a very handsome one. 
There is a table of contents, containing 246 numbered chapters ; 
but two of them come after the colophon ("Explicit les Chapistres 
de la vie des sains,'^) namely, "la vie monseigneur S. eloy," and 
" la vie monseigneur S. Thomas de cantorbie." I have sought to 
give the contents, however, without depending on the table, from 
actual examination of the MS. At the head of the chapter on 
Advent comes the rubric given by Paris : "Ci commence la legende 
des sains doree .... la quele a translatee de latin en francois 
mestre ieha belet,'' etc. Most of this page is filled by an illumi- 
nation representing, in panels, appropriate scenes from the lives of 
the Virgin and Christ, "Le volume contient 249 feuillets, la table 
non comprise, et finit avec la vie de" St. Eloy. In giving the 
contents I have been forced to give, in most cases, English titles, 
as the originals were in many cases abnormally long. 



CAP. 


FOL. 




CAP. 


FOL. 




1 .. 


. 1 . 


.. Prologue. 


16.. 


. 23b. 


.. Martinian and Proces. 


2.. 


. 2 . 


.. Advent. 


17 .. 


. 24 . 


.. St. Andrew. 


3 .. 


. 5 . 


.. Nativity. 


18 .. 


. 31b. 


.. St. Bartholomew. 


4... 


. 6 . 


.. Annoncement aus pas- 
toriaus. 


19 .. 


. 34 . 


.. St. James, Brother of 
John. 


5 ... 


, 6b . 


.. Magi (Epiphany). 


20 .. 


. 36b. 


.. Miracles of St. James 


6 ... 


, 7 . 


.. Circumcision. 






(8 sections). 


7 ... 


8 . 


.. Comment li 12 princes 
de la loy (accuse- 


21 .. 


. 45 ., 


.. St. John the Evange- 
list. 






rent) J. C. qui de- 


22.. 


. 48 ., 


. St. Philip. 






struisoit la loy. 


23 .. 


. 49 .. 


.. St. Maci (Matthew). 


8 ... 


8 . 


.. Cmt. nre. sire entra ou 


24.. 


. 63 .. 


,. Sts. Simon and Jude. 






pretoire and les en- 


25 .. 


. 57 .. 


. St. Mark. 






seignes s'enclinerent. 


26.. 


. 58 .. 


. Assumption. 


9... 


9 . 


.. Crucifixion. 


27 .., 


. 59b., 


.. Burial of Our Lady. 


10 ... 


10 ., 


.. Descent from Cross. 


28 ... 


. 60b.. 


,. Mary Magdalen. 


11 ... 


12 .. 


,. Harrowing of Hell. 


29 .., 


. 63b .. 


. Martha. 


12... 


13 .. 


,. Conversion of St. Paul. 


30.., 


. 67 .. 


. Mathieu (Mathias). 


13 ... 


14 .. 


,. St. Paul comes to Rome. 


31 ... 


. 69 .. 


. Mary Aegyptiaca. 


14... 


17 b . 


.. Passion of St. Peter. 


32... 


, 73 .. 


. St. Luke. 


15 ... 


20b ., 


.. Passion of St. Paul. 


33 ... 


, 74 .. 


. St. Clement. 



24 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 



CAP. 


FOL. 




CAP, 


FOL. 




34... 


76 . 


.. St. Mauritius. 


62 .. 


,. 176 .. 


. St. Jerome. 


35... 


77 b . 


.. St. Barnabas. 


63 .. 


. 177 .. 


. Vie d'un chetif moine- 


36... 


78 . 


.. St. Theodore. 






de S. Jerome. 


37 ... 


78b. 


.. St. Ossimart, roi d'An- 


64 ., 


.. 180 .. 


. St. Pol le Simple. 






gleterre. 


65.. 


. 181 .. 


. St. John Baptist. 


38... 


79b. 


.. St. Anastasia. 


66.. 


. 185 .. 


. Ordonance des Apos- 


39... 


85 . 


.. St. Foy. 






tres & vie de St. 


40... 


86b. 


.. St. Margaret. 






Etienne. 


41 ... 


89b. 


.. St. Ursula. 


67 .. 


,. 185b.. 


. Sts, Crissaunt & Darie. 


42... 


, 92 . 


.. St. Cristine. 


68 ., 


.. 188b .. 


,. St. Leonard. 


43... 


, 96b. 


.. St. Caecilia. 


69 ., 


.. 191 .. 


. Sts. Ernoul & Escal- 


44... 


99b . 


.. St. Catherine. 






iberge. 


45 ... 


, 106 . 


.. Passion of St. Andrew. 


70 .. 


,. 195 .. 


. St. Quiriacus (Holy- 


46 ... 


108 . 


.. St. Lucie. 






Cross). 


47 ... 


, 109b. 


.. St. Agnes. 


71 ., 


.. 195b .. 


. St. Thomas Becket. 


48... 


, 112 . 


.. St. Giles. 


72., 


.. 199 .. 


. St. Longin. 


49 ... 


, 115 . 


.. St. Alexis. 


73 . 


.. 201 .. 


. St. George. 


50 ... 


, 118 . 


.. St. Thomas Apostre. 


74 . 


..204 .. 


. St. Pantaleon. 


51 ... 


. 121 . 


.. St. James Minor. 


75. 


.. 209 .. 


. St. Sixtus. 


52 ... 


, 122 . 


.. St. Brandan. 


76. 


.. 211 .. 


. St. Laurence. 


53... 


, 130 . 


.. St. Victor. 


77 . 


.. 213 b .. 


.. St. Hippolitus. 


54... 


. 131 . 


.. St. Marcel. 


78 . 


.. 215 b ., 


.. St. Vincent. 


55 ... 


. 141 . 


.. St. Nicholas. 


79 . 


...218 ., 


.. St. Julian Hospitaller 


56... 


.151 . 


.. St. Nicholas. (Trans- 






et ah. 






lation). 


80. 


.. 227 .. 


. Sts. Cosme & Damien. 


57... 


. 155 . 


.. St. Jerome. 


81 . 


..231b . 


.. St. Eustace. 


58 .., 


.157 . 


.. St. Benedict. 


82 . 


.. 236 b. 


.. St. Felix. 


59 .. 


.165 b, 


... St. Martin de Tours. 


83. 


.. 237 .. 


..St. Gregory. 


60.., 


. 174b . 


(Translation). 


84. 


.. 242 .. 


.. St. Patrick (Purga- 
tory). 


61 .. 


. 175 . 


..St. Brice. 


85 . 


.. 248 .. 


,. St. Eloy. 



MS. Fran9ais, No. 185, Bibliotheque Nationale (ancien numera- 
6845^^). This, too, is described by Paris {loco cit), but I shall not 
take the trouble to transcribe what he says, merely making certain 
comments of my own. In size the MS. was originally the same as 
No. 183, and contains 48 lines, three cols., to the page. The mini- 
atures are much smaller, and not so good, and the table of contents 
is in plain black, not in red, beginning with (blank space left for 
later insertion of initial) — "e sont les Rubriches de la legende doree. 
Premierement des • i i i j * temps • De laduenement,^^ etc. Here we 
find an arrangement of the contents similar to that in the Brit. Mus- 
MS. Addit. 17, 275, viz: all the feasts specially connected with. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend. 25 

Christ and the Virgin are put first, then those "Des apostres • Des 
Confesseurs • des vierges." But the actual order in the MS. does 
not agree at all with this plan, for it is really much the same as in 
MS. 183, but with various additions. It seems hardly necessary to 
transcribe the contents where the MS. agrees with No. 183, so I 
shall merely note the legends which are added. We begin, as in 
the preceding MS., with a Prologue, and the rubric : " Ci commence 
la legende des sains, premierement des • i i i j • tes Et puis apres de 
lauenement." The order is the same through No. 11 {Harrowing 
of Hell). Several legends are repeated (indicated by an *). 



FOL. 




FOI,. 




15 .. 


. De Letaniis. 


231b .. 


. Gordian. 


16 ., 


. Ascension. 


Ih. .. 


. Nereus & Achilleus. 


18 .. 


. Pentecost. 


232 .. 


. Pancras. 


21 .. 


. Nativ. Mariae. 


232 .. 


. Urban. 


75 .. 


. Deed. John Baptist. 


Ih. .. 


. Prime & Felicien. 


77 .. 


. *Crissant {his, 123). 


233 .. 


. Vite & Modeste. 


79 .. 


. *Leonard {his, 126). 


233b .. 


. Quirite & Julite. 


81 .. 


. *Christopher {his, 111). 


234 b .. 


,. Sept Dormans. 


174 .. 


,. Paulinus. 


235 b.. 


. Celse & Nazarien. 


191b.. 


,. Genovefa (3 caps.). 


236 b .. 


. Simplicius & Faustin. 


201 .. 


,. Calixtus. 


237 .. 


. Abdon & Senne. 


201b ., 


.. Vedastus. 


'— /6. .. 


. Germain. 


Ih, .. 


,. Amandus. 


238 .. 


. Eusebius. 


202 .. 


,. Denys (7 chapters). 


239 .. 


. Machabees. 


209 b. 


.. Arsenien. 


Ih. .. 


. Etienne Pape. 


210 .. 


,. Valentin. 


239 b .. 


. Etienne Protomartyr (In- 


211b.. 


.. Anthony of Egypt. 




ventio). 


211 .. 


,. Hilary. 


240 b .. 


,. Dominick. 


213 .. 


,. Remy. 


246 .. 


. Donatus. 


214 .. 


,. Lambert. 


246 b.. 


. Timothy. 


217 .. 


,. Juliana. 


Ih. .. 


. Symphorien. 


218 .. 


.. Petronella. 


247 .. 


. Augustin. 


lb. ., 


.. Fursin. 


251b .. 


. Sesne & Sauine (= Navi 


219 ., 


.. Holy Cross (Inventio). 




nean). 


222 .. 


,. Agatha. 


252 .. 


. Lupus (Leuj. 


223 ., 


.. Elizabeth. 


252 b .. 


,. Martin Pastor. 


227 b . 


.. Ignace. 


253 .. 


,. Adrian. 


228 .. 


,. Blaise. 


Ih. .. 


. Prothe & Jacincti. 


229 ., 


,. Secundiis. 


254 b ., 


,. Gorgonien. 


229b . 


.. Marcellin. 


255 b ., 


.. Cornelius. 


230 ., 


.. Vital. 


Ih. .. 


. Eufamie. 


Ih. .. 


. Virgine d'Antioche. 


256 b .. 


,. Justine. 



26 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorh — Golden Legend, 



POL. 




FOIi. 




257 b . 


.. " Jean Bouche d'or." 


271 .. 


.. John Abbot. 


259 b . 


.. Michael. 


271b.. 


,. Moses Abbot. 


262 . 


.. Francis. 


Ih. .. 


,. Pelagius Pope. 


264 b. 


.. Pelagia. 


273 b.. 


.. Explicit la legende des ss. 


265 b., 


.. Margarete dite Pelagienne. 




que maistre Jehan Belet 


Ih. .. 


.. Thais. 




translata De latin En 


266 .. 


.. Quentin. 




francois. 


266 b. 


.. " Li Toussaint." 


274 .. 


. St. Gille. 


268 .. 


,. All Souls. 


277 .. 


. Caecilia. 


270 b.. 


,. IV Coronati. 


282 .. 


. Katherine, 


lb. .. 


. Crisogone. 







It is very evident that this MS. contains a great many more lives 
than the preceding one. Before commenting further on the other 
MSS. in Paris I shall describe the MS. of this version in the British 
Mus., as it, with the two preceding, formed the basis of my exam- 
ination. 

MS. Addit. 17, 275. Of this the Catalogue says : " ^ La vie des 
Sains, la quele maistre Jehan Beleth translata de Latin en Romans;' 
treating I) ^Des • iiij • temps,' including the life of Christ, the 
Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalene ; II) * Les fais des Apostres 
e des Evangelistes ; ' III) ^ Les Confessors ; ' V) ^ Les vies des 
Vierges.' The first chapter is translated from the * Legenda Aurea' 
of Jacobus de Voragine, and the whole has been commonly consid- 
ered as a version of that work ; but it is to be observed, that in the 
present compilation the order of arrangement is essentially different 
from that of the Legenda ^ and that it contains fewer lives, and those 
in many cases different — for instance, the lives of St. Edward the 
Confessor, Elizabeth of Hungary, and others are differently para- 
phrased. On vellum, written in three columns, of the commence- 
ment of the XIV century, with miniatures coarsely executed. At 
the beginning is inserted a leaf, on which is blazoned a shield 
bearing the arras of Chateau vilain, quartering de Coucy and .... 
(sic), with lions as supporters, surmounted by a helmet crest, with 
the motto ^Espoir de myeulx.' Folio." 

To this we may add that, on the blank leaf opposite the rich coat 
of arms mentioned, we find a long note discussing the date of the 
MS., in two hands. The second hand says .... ^'the present 
Volume has undergone the closest scrutiny & it is pronounced at 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^ — Golden Legend, 27 

the King's Library to be the original (sic) Translation .... it 
was completed about 1210 . . . . the same MS. exists in the Royal 
Collection without the Translator's name, being only a Copy of the 
present work and a century posterior to the execution of this manu- 
script." I have not been able to find the duplicate referred to ; 
most likely the Vignay MS., Royal 19, B. xvii (see below) was thus 
carelessly spoken of. On the first folio is a miniature (" there are 
186 in all, not counting capitals,") and under it this rubric: ^'Ci 
commencet les chapistres de la uie des sains & des saintes." The 
table begins: ''Ci commencet les rebriches de la uie des sains 
laquele maistre Jehan beleth translata de latin en romas. Et par 
le premierement des • i i i j • temps/' etc. The table is far more 
descriptive than usual, furnishing almost what one might call a 
syllabus of contents. There are 219 numbered chapters, which 
includes the Prologue, Advent being counted as cap. 2. Here, too, 
several legends are repeated. I shall note only the additions. 
There is a very long series of legends about the Virgin ; one of 
these, cap. 26, is 8t. Theophilus. After cap. 35, Mary Magdalene, 
we find : " Ci apres commencent les fais des apostres et des evan- 
gelistes." Chapters 42-61, inclusive, are devoted to St. James 
Maior and his miracles. After cap. 72, Conversion of St. Paul we 
find again : ^' Ci apres sont les martirs tout en ordre." As in the 
MS. Fr. 185, St. Denys is treated at great length. After St. Chris- 
topher, cap. 120: " Ci apres commencent les Confessors." After 
cap. 141, which is a continuation of St. Patricks Purgato7'y, come 
cap. 142 (fol. 253, b.): " Sts. Thelyan et Daiud," and cap. 143: 
'' St. Dauid." Other added legends are (Nos. 151-152) : St. John 
JElemosynary ; (No. 160) St. Edouard roi ; (No. 148) St. Paul the 
Hermit; (Nos. 185-187) St. Mathelin — after whom comes: " Ci 
apres commencent les uies des Vierges." Here the new lives are 
(No. 193) St. Helen, substantially the same as the Holy Cross; (No. 
195) St. Colomba; (No. 196) St. Paula. 

Having now three more or less complete MSS. before us, let us 
see whether there are many important differences from the Legenda 
Aurea. The Prologue is rather paraphrased than translated from 
the Latin, p. 1. The chapter on Advent is a fair translation from 
the Latin, but the Nativity is not, being much shorter ; nor does 
the Epiphany seem to be based on Voragine. The chapters on 



28 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

Septuagesima- Quadragesima are from the Legenda text. And the 
first two paragraphs of the Nativity are a fair translation of the 
same in Legenda vi, pp. 39-40. The chapters on Litanies, Ascen- 
scion, Pentecost, Nativity of Virgin, Theophilus, Purification, are- 
much the same as the corresponding Latin, but certain miracles of 
the Virgin seem to be omitted, and the order is generally different^ 
The Holy Cross is quite different from the Legenda, both in order 
and detail. It begins, on fol. 33 (Addit. MS.) : ^' En Ian de lin- 
carnacion nostre seingneur, • ij^ et • xxxiiij . ans, du regnement du 
uaillant empereeur de rome continueur de contentinoble (sic) el siste 
an de son regnement estoient maiutes gens assemblees sus la riue de 
dimon (sic) .... quant il fu noncie a lempereeur constentin," etc» 
This same legend is repeated on fol. 289 b-292 b — *S^. Helen, All 
the earlier story about the origin of the wood of the Cross, etc., i& 
omitted. After the passage quoted, we find Constantine's vision, 
and then Helen is sent to Jerusalem. The narrative is quite dif- 
ferent from the Legenda, omitting many details, and yet giving 
many not found in the Legenda. Nothing is told of St. Helen's 
origin, and most of the detail about the nails of the Cross, and the 
final narratio of the Notary, are omitted. The legends of St. John 
(Evangelist), St. Philip, St. Matthew, Simon & Jude, Marie, and 
Bartholomew, are different in many respects from the Legenda text^ 
The legend of St. James the Greater is almost decisive against the 
view that this work is translated from Voragine. Here we find a 
legend occupying nine chapters, covering, in Add. MS., ten folios 
(56-66 b), a great deal longer than the Legenda, and quite different. 
Even more different is the legend dealing with the various Julians. 
That oi Julian Hospitaller is more than twice as long as the Legenda^ 
and the whole is confessedly based on different sources, for it begins : 
" Uns preudons raconte la uie saint iulie que il a translatee de latin 
en rommas .... II furent • i j • iuliens, li uns martirs et li autres 
confessors.*' The chapter on Cosme & Damien is also very dif- 
ferent from, and longer than the Legenda, extending from fol. Ill 
to 114. 

But the legend of St. Donai is quite the same as in the Latin. 
And the Sept Dormans is also quite the same, even to the final sen- 
tences to which I referred above. It ends (ms. Fr. 185, fol. 235 b., 
of. Add. MS., fol. 172 b., where the first sentence is omitted) : "H 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 29 

puet bien estre douteuse chose que il dormirent si com il est dit • 
iij° et Lxxij • ans. Liquel resusciterent Ian nostre seingneur 
"iiij*: • XLviij ans (s^c.) • Decius regna * j • an tant seulement. 
Ce est asauoir Ian de nre seingneur c c L i j . Et aisi ne dormirent que 
* i ij ^ • & • V j • as " (here the numbers agree with what Graesse calls 
Ed. Prin., cf. p. 436, n.). The variants in the Addit. MS. are quite 
marked, so I quote these closing words from it (fol. 172 b.) : 
^'Adonques commanda li empereres celui [lieu] a tourner (sic) em- 
pierres dorees & touz ceus assoudre qui ceste resurrection confes- 
seront [so far also MS. Fr. 185]. Decius regna * j • an tant seule- 
ment. Ce est asauoir en Ian de niFe seign • ij ^Lij. Et ainsi ne 
dormirent q • i i j *; i i i j • ou trois ans.^^ 

Another typical legend that is quite distinct from the Legenda is 
that of St. Thomas of Canterbury. From this I shall quote some 
lines of the beginning, based on MS. Queen^s Coll., Oxford, No. 
305, f. 109, but with certain emendations, not worth noting, from 
MS. Add. 17,275, fol. 146, b.; Fr. 183, fol. 195, b.; and 185, fol. 87. 
It begins with a sort of hortatory exordium, which fills about half 
a column in the Add. MS. : 

"Mi chier filz ceste feste doit estre celebree a grant sollempnite 
par uraie deuocion. En la quele mo seigneur 8 thomas de cantur- 
biere, qui conseilz de pes (pais) estoit, recut martire. Quar sa mort 
est precieuse a lesgart de dieu & les sains & les bons crestiens. 
Car il se co?7ibatit uertueusement iusqwa la mort powr deffedre le- 
glise. Telle mort est adroit appellee naissance qui fait lorae viure 
«n vie perdurable. Ceste vie presente est chaitiue & mortelle, 
<fe la mors est benoite, parcui len va en vie perdttrable. Ainsi fit 
le glorieus martirs s. tho, car par sa precieuse mort il est es ioies de 
paradis. II chaina la terre au ciel, & laissa le monde poitr para- 
dis & traual powr repous. Cilz est en terre & en mer poissans 
<& regnans auec nre sire. Quant larceuesque thiebaut fu tres- 
passez de ce siecle, qui fu de bonne uiellesce & de simple memoire, 
Thomas arcedyacres de catorbire de leglise fu donnez et esleus a 
arceuesque et a prelat de toute engleterre, ou non de saite trinite. et 
tantbst apres pou de temps fu sacrez. Ceuls du pais auoient espe- 
rance en dieu que quant il seroit sacrez qml samenderoit en toutes 
uertus. Car prouee chose est que cils sieges est tenus a estre siege 
de sains, ou receuoir sains, ou ilz se facet sains par bonnes cures on 
len le mette hors du siege." 



30 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

This quotation is, perhaps, more than sufficient to show what a 
different version we have from that in the Legenda. It is some- 
what longer, but all the miracles (Lat. pp. 68-69, §§ 3-6) are 
omitted. It ends, as it began, with a sort of sermon, after describ- 
ing how he was killed, and how a clerk had his arm cut off (this is 
shown in the accompanying miniature in Add. MS.) while trying^ 
to shield the martyr. The legend, in this MS., occupies almost two 
complete folios, which shows its greater length. 

The St. Christopher (ms. Fr. 185, f. 81, and f. Ill, and in others) 
is also longer than the Legenda, and quite different. But most of 
the legends in this MS. coming after Genevieve, such as Calixty 
Vedast, Valentine, and all of those after Marcellinus (fol. 229 b.) 
are close enough to the Legenda to show that they were translated 
from the same text. Neither of the Jeromes in MS. 183 is trans- 
lated from the Legenda, though the first, " St. Jerome confessor nre 
seigneur" (fol. 155, b., cf. Leg. p. 653), is similar to the Latin, 
The second is called ^' St. Jerome qui translata la bible de grec en 
latin.'' 

But the last of the well-established Legenda stories which I shall 
note in its new dress is one that interests us particularly. This is 
the legend of St. Patrick. I quote from MS. Fr. 185, fol. 186 b,. 
but shall give variants from other MSS. when of significance, using 
MSS. Fr. 183, fol. 242; Addit., fol. 249; Queen's Col., fol. 137; 
MS. Fran9ais, Bibl. Nat., No. 413, fol. 227 — see below : 

"A celui temps que saint patrice li grans preeschoit en yrlande 
de la parole dieu nostre sires conferma son preeschement par glo- 
rieus miracles. Saint patrice trouua les gens de cele terre si sauua- 
ges a creance [Q. C. has de si male Greance\ com me se se fussent 
bestes, & il mist grant paine a euls enseignier et souuent lor parloit 
des tormens denfer & des ioies de paradis [Q. C] powr ce qui7 les 
cuidoit par la doubtance des tormenz retraire de lewr mescreance 
& de pechie, .... [continues thus, telling of the saint's troubles,, 
but omits the story of the sheep]. ... Et nre sires sapparut ali 
si comme il auoit fait aultre fois, & li donna le liure des euangeles 
(!) & • i • baston. . . . [with which he draws the circle, etc.]. . . . 
Au temps [ms. Fr. 185, f. 187, b.] le roy esteuenon qui fu roy den- 
gleterre auint que uns Qhevalier^ qui auoit non oieus [sic; Q. C. 
oiens, and same in Fr. 413] se vint confessier a lesuesque en cui 
eueschie cil purgatoires est. Quant li euesques ot oie sa confession 



Legenda Aurea — Legende DorSe — Golden Legend. 31 

il le commenca mlt ablasmer pour ses peschiez, & li dist quil 
auoit mlt nfe seingneur courroucie. Si en fu li chevaliers moult 
dolens, si pensa mlt comment il pourroit faire digne penance de ses 
pechiez. si comme li euesque li uouloit chargier penitence tele come 
il ueoit que ses pechiez requeroient, li chevaliers li dist, ie prendrai 
toute la plus grief penitance de toutes les autres, car ie enterrai on 
purgatoire saint patrice/^ 

I have quoted thus much of this most interesting departure from 
the regular Legenda form merely because it was of interest. The 
version here embodied in this so-called translation of the Legenda 
Aurea is well known as that of Henry of Saltrey, and has been 
printed, though very incorrectly, by P. Tarbe : Li Purgatoire di 
Saint Patrice. SociUi des Bibliophiles de Reims, 1842. I shall 
quote here a note for which I am indebted to Mr. George Philip 
Krapp, who has made special investigations of the St. Patrick 
legends. He says : ^' This version is a somewhat abbreviated form 
of Henry [of Saltrey] 's account, lacking the Prologue and some of 
the adventitious episodes. It is apparently carelessly printed, and 
the editor knows very little about the history of the legend ; he 
does not know H. of Saltrey or any Latin original for his MS., 
[which is] evidently derived from a Latin MS. of the 2nd class " 
(Ward^s classification, see his Catalogue, ii p. 435 fol., pp. 452, 
and notice of MSS. Add. 6524, 17,275, and Koyal 20 D. vi, on pp. 
476, 549, 550). 

But the long list of changes from the Legenda is not completed 
even yet. Rather significant words are found in several legends, 
particularly those not found in the Legenda. Thus, on fol. 200 b,. 
of the MS. Addit. 17,275, at the end of the life of St. Thelyan: "Ci 
fenist lauie de saint thelyan, transla^ee de latin en francois, que 
Mestre Guillaume desnes translate — Lan mil • iij*; & xxv • le 
iour de saint michiel archange.^^ Note the date. Similarly on fol. 
286 b. we find : "Ci fenist la uie monseign Saint mathelin — Trans- 
latee De rommans en latin. Quil a • vj Gens et xxx ij vers." The 
legend of Sts. Ernoul et Escaliberge, too, is told in the first person ► 
but has no such statement as the preceding (see MS. Fr. 183, fol. 
191-194 b., and MS. 185, fol. 178, b.-181 b.) ; it ends : " Vous auez 
oi les miracles de monseingneur saint Ernoul .... si comme ie 
vous ai dit au commencement." And at the end of Crissant et 



32 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Doric — Golden Legend, 

Darie we find (ms. Fr. 183, fol. 191 ; Fr. 185, pp. 81 and 128): 
^^ Et celui qui ceste uie translata de latin en romans a non (or, fol. 
-81, si ot non) Rogier de longaistre (or longastre) prestre. Et si 
aucuns en estoit en doutance que ce ne fust (soit) vraie chose, si 
puet regarder en la legende, si trouera le latin selonc le rommans." 
After this in MS. 183, and also on fol. 81 of MS. 185, comes one ot 
the stereotyped latin prayers, of no significance for us, which is not 
copied on fol. 128. This legend is also different from and longer 
than the Legenda. 

The exact date given above for one of the legends in this Belet 
version, viz., Sept. 29th, 1325, would seem to prove that the com- 
pilation was post-Legenda, and not long before the Vignay transla- 
tions. But, as we have seen, this Belet ligende dorie is so radically 
different from Voragine's work that one is led to doubt if it be 
really based on the Legenda or on a similar Latin compilation by 
Johannes Beleth himself. It is true that in some places the French 
version refers to Beleth exactly as Voragine does ; cf. Add. MS. fol. 
169 b., in the story of Julian Apostate: '' une fame fu, ainsi comme 
dist mestre iehan beleth, qui estoit en loffice de (sic) sainte eglise. 
Cele fame auoit • i i j • oules plainnes dor,^' etc. = Leg.^ p. 143 : 
quaedam autem mulier (ut refert magister Johannes Beleth in Summa 
de officio ecclesiae) habens tres ollas plenas auri (see Migne, vol. 202, 
col. 132, — and above). But in others the French legends give 
details, to which Jacobus refers as coming from Beleth, without 
mentioning him. For example, we quoted above parallel passages 
from Beleth and Voragine on the legend of St. James, which, 
Voragine says, Beleth '^ treats at length " {diligenter exsequitur^ p. 
421). Now the French version certainly does treat St. James at 
great length (fol. 56-66 b. in Add. MS.), and gives several details 
about his death and translation found neither in Voragine nor in 
Beleth's Rationale ; on fol. 58 b. we find : " Quant sains iaques fu 
decoles par le comandement abiatar et herodes ensamble, son disciple 
qui iosias auoit anon (text certainly corrupt here, and I am unfor- 
tunately unable to correct it from other MSS.). le cors de lui demora 
el lieu ou il auoit este decolez tres quala nuit, pour la paour des 
iuis ; dont le pridrent si disciple, si lenporterent tres que sur le 
riuage de la mer. et tous temps les c5duisoit (sic) li angles," etc. In 
the story of the Decollacion St. Jean Baptiste the French has (fol. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dorie — Golden Legend, 33 

136): "]e doi de lui . . . . ne pot ardoir, si come len dit. Dont 
€es deuant dit moines cist doi fa trouuez. Lequel api-es, si com len 
dist en listoire scolastique, Sainte tecle, quant elle ot portees les 
reliques entre les mos, elle empetra tant par ses prieres et par ses 
dons enuers le pape que la feste de la decollacion sait iehan fust 
feste, et auior dui de raonseingneur le pape fu establie que cele 
iournee par tot le monde fust festee " — again the reference to Beleth 
(Lat. p. 574) is omitted, though we get a rough version of the story 
as given in the Latin. We have a similar case, which I shall for- 
bear to quote, in the legend of St, Laurence, Lat. p. 493, cf. MS. 
Ad. fol. 99 b. 

So much careful work would be needed to establish the exact 
relations between Belet^s French and the Latin Legenda that I need 
hardly offer apologies for the manifest imperfections in work which 
was, after all, outside my province, and to which I could devote 
only a very limited amount of time. All the details I have given 
were collected in odd moments, not systematically worked out. The 
question is not yet settled to my satisfaction, whether this compi- 
lation was translated as a whole from a Latin original, or whether 
it is really a thoroughgoing revision of the Legenda Aurea, with 
amplification of existing legends, addition of certain new ones not 
found, so far as I am aware, in any text of the Legenda, and omis- 
sions of many which were in the body of that compilation. 

I shall conclude by notices of certain MSS. which contain this 
Belet French, in whole or in part. MS. Fran9ais 413 (Bibl. Nat., 
ancien numero 7019^, see Paris, iv, p. 30). We may add some 
details to Paris's description. This MS. begins with the Nativity. 
If it had been complete we should probably have had it beginning 
with Advent, and then it would have been classed as a Beleth 
translation of the Legenda. It adds to the regular stories an 
abridged version of the Gospels ("les * iiij • grant euangilles '') ; 
and on fol. 30 we get a resume of what has already been given, and 
the announcement : "Apres ce oirois la vie des apostres, des euan- 
gelistes, des martirs, des confesseurs et des vierges " — exactly similar 
to the arrangement in the Addit. MS. The other side of the folio 
begins John Bapt,, followed, on fol. 35 b, by Conversion of St. Paid 
(agrees with that in other Beleth MSS.) and (fol. 36) St, Peter, etc., 
through the Apostles, ending with St, Andrew, on fol. 116 b, where 
3 



34 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

we find : " Explicit des vies des apostres nre seigneur Jhesuscrist.'^ 
Then comes the Finding of the Cross, followed by St. Stephen (foL 
119 b.), St. Vincent, St. Longin, etc. The names are about as usual^ 
but on fol. 169 b. we get " Saint Aimon dangleterre." 

The Thomas of Canturbury (fol. 176 b.) begins just like all the 
quasi Beleth versions : " Mes chiers filz/' etc. And the St. Julian 
which follows is the same version given in the other Beleth mss» 
St. Brandan occurs on fol. 189 b. Another new legend is that of 
St. Thihaut de Troyes, fol. 201 b. On fol. 204 b. we get : " Ci 
finissent les vies des sains martirs nre sires Jhesuscrist " — next 
comes St. Augustine, and then St. Silvester, etc. 

On folio 227 we find : " Du purgatoire saint patrice," exactly 
the version given in the other Beleth mss., there being no variants 
worth mentioning from the versions in other MSS., except that the 
name seems to be here oieTis. 

The lives of St. Mor (260) and St. Julien du Mans (272 b.) are 
unusual, and Simeon (274 b.), and Fremin (292) ; Balaam and Jos- 
aphat, on fol. 324. 

The lives of the virgins close the MS., there being few additions 
worth noting ; the text is the same as in other Beleth MSS. I have 
no hesitation in saying that this MS. should be classed with the other 
so-called translations of the Legenda by Beleth ; though his name 
does not occur, so far as I was able to discover, the agreement of 
the text in the many legends I compared leaves no doubt on that 
score. 

MS. Queen's Coll., Oxford, No. 305. This is described at length 
in Coxe's Catalogue, the contents being given. It is a 15th cen- 
tury MS., late, and is said to contain a French version of the Le- 
genda Aurea. I have not seen this MS. myself, but had certain test 
passages from Thomas BecJcet and St, Patrick copied ; they agree 
exactly with the versions given in the other Belet mss., and so I 
have no doubt this ms. belongs to that form of legendes. There are 
115 chapters given by Coxe, and several strange names appear. 
Such are (fol. 50): La vie de Lentecrist et comme il regnera ; (foL 
76) De S. Alexandre le pape; (fol. 80) De S, Babill {= Basile f f) ; 
(fol. 89) De S. Sammian; (fol. 100) Du roy Dagobert; (fol. 106) 
De S. Bernoul; (fol. 118) De S. Aymon; (fol. 185) De Maor des 
fosses; (fol. 289) De S. Perpetua; (fol. 290) De S. Domidlle ; (foL 



Legenda Aurea — Legende DorSe — Golden Legend, 35 

318) Be S. Mariane; (fol. 335) De S. Feniel; (fol. 356) Be 8. 
Balthene; and, the last in the volume (fol. 376), Be 8, Bertille, 
But several well known saints (e. g. Bominick) are omitted. 

MSS. Eoyal 20 d. vi and Addit. 6524, Brit. Mus., contain 
shorter collections, based, apparently, on .the Belet collection, for 
they give the Saltrey version of >S'^. Patrick^ and the latter has (fol. 
137 b) the same form of Thomas Bechet that we found in other 
Belet MSS. (see Ward, ii, 549, etc.). And M. Paul Meyer, in 
Notices et Extraits, t. 34 (1891), p. 183, describes a ms. in the 
Phillips^ collection at Cheltenham (No. 3660) in terms that show 
it to be also a derivative from Belet. He also mentions other mss. 

The YiGNAY Legende doree, 

B. As many additions were made in the course of time to the 
original translation, to say nothing of actual changes in the text 
and the plan of the work, we are apt to lose sight of what was the 
real work of de Vignay. I have, quite empirically, divided the 
texts of this version examined into three classes, representing (1) 
the original translation by de Vignay; (2) this translation plus new 
legends ; (3) the complete revision and re-arrangement of de Vig- 
nay's work. 

Jean de Vignay was a most industrious translator, whose life we 
cannot stop to investigate here (see Paris, i, p. 53, fol. ; Echard, i, 
742; Hist. Lit. de France, xviii, 471-2; Meyer, in Archives des 
missions scientijiques, Paris, 1866, 2™® s^rie, iii, p. 262, etc.). Two 
other translations should be noted, however, as well as the Golden 
Legend, viz : Ludus 8caccorum = Le Jeu des Echecs ( > Caxton's 
Chess Book), and 8peculum Historiale =^ Miroir Historial (also used 
by Caxton : Mirrour of the World f f but see Blades). He states 
in his prologue to the Legende dorSe (given by Blades, Aspland, 
etc.), that he, fr^re Jacques de Vignay, monk Hospitaller of St. 
Jacques du Hault-pas, made this translation " a la requeste de tres 
puissaunte et noble dame madame Jehanne de Bourgoigne, par la 
grace de Dieu royne de France.'^ The work was done, according 
to Ward (ii, p. 131), "soon after 1333; and it was dedicated by 
(de Vignay) to the Queen of Philippe de Valois, Jeanne de Bour- 
gogne, who died in 1348.'' The date given by Blades (ii, 183), 



36 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend, 

and Paris is much too late {drca 1380) ; Ward's is probably cor- 
rect. The same writers make the less pardonable error of asserting 
that de Vignay based his work on Belet's. On the contrary, this 
was really a translation of the Legenda Aurea, and the earliest MS. 
I have seen (Fr. 241, dated 1348) has almost exactly the same 
order and contents as our present Latin text, with few omissions, 
and no additions or amplifications. It is not till we get to the 
15th century (1402) that we find a list of new legends appended 
to Voragine's work. The best way to show this seems to be to 
describe four mss. of this type. 

MS. Eoyal 19. B. xvii, Brit. Mus. I regret that I cannot linger 
over this exquisite MS., with its elegant binding and lovely minia- 
ture illuminations. It begins with De Vignay's prologue, and a 
translation of the Legenda prologue. There is a table of contents, 
but it is full of more or less important errors. We begin with 
Advent and go on regularly as in the Latin. The table inserts 8L 
Eloy after Andrew, but the legend is not in the text, which pro- 
ceeds regularly. The ritual note in the Latin, p. 39-40, is given 
as a separate chapter. A similar chapter {Du temps de reuocacion) 
is placed in the table after Anastasia, but is not in the text. St, 
Macarws is omitted from the table, but will be found in his proper 
place in the text (fol. 45). St. Sebastian comes before Fabian, 
Between Julian and Septuagesima a separate chapter is put in, based 
on Latin, p. 145. St, Sophia (Lat. p. 103), and Si. Timothy (Lat. 
p. 222) are omitted. After the Passion we get another separate 
chapter for the " temps de reconciliacion " (Lat. p. 235). Sts. Fa- 
bian and Apollonia are omitted (Lat. pp. 291 and 293). After the 
Invention of the Cross the order is slightly changed ; next come : 
" De la greignour letanie," and " De la meneur," then '^ De St. 
Jehan porte latine," and next, Ascension, omitting St. Boniface, 
Gordian and Fpymachus, and Nereus and Achilles are entered in 
the table as if separarate chapters, but are just as in the Latin. 
Another separate chapter is made from Lat. p. 341. Strange to 
say, the MS. makes the same error in regard to St. Marine that 
Graesse's table does : she is entered as " sainte Marie uierge,'' and 
this error is repeated in MS. Add. 16,907, in MS. Fr. 241, and MS. 
Egerton 645; but the name is given correctly in the text (fol. 
146 b.). All goes regularly again until we find that Sts, Cornelien 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 37 

and Oyprien (Lat. p. 595) are omitted from their proper places, as 
well as St. Lambert ; but the former will be found between Chry- 
sostom and Eufemia, the latter between Eufemia and Matthaeus. 
" Balam " and " Josafat " are given as if their legends formed sep- 
arate chapters. The MS. ends with the Dedication, which is the last 
legend in the original Legenda, and forms a real translation, not a 
revision. At the close we find the colophon : ^^ Ci fenist la legende 
doree en francois que frere iehan de vignay ^ranslata de latin en 
francois." Then, in red : *^ Cette legende fut escripte Lan mil 
• CCC • quatre vins et deus." 

Addit. MS. 16,907. This is described as a vellum MS., dated 
1375c It opens with de Vignay's prologue (which the colophon 
erroneously describes as " le prologue du translateitr appelle frere 
Jaqs de Jannes de lordre des freres prescheurs,") followed, as usualy 
by Voragine's, and then the table. It begins : Advent, Si. Andrew, 
St. Eloy, St. Nicholas, etc. ; but this is an error, as Eloy does not 
occur here in the text, which goes just as in Royal MS. Just as in 
the latter, Macarius is omitted from table, but found in the text. 
The contents agree exactly. After St. Lor ens the table puts St. 
Tyburcien, but the legend is not here in the text, which agrees with 
Royal MS. After the last legend. Dedication, comes the colophon : 
** Cy fenist la vie des sains qui est dicte legende doree, qui fu faite 
lan de nrese • M • c c c • 1 x x v.'' 

MS. Egert. 645. This is a later MS., and not nearly so beautiful 
as most of those we have handled. It is 15 century, on vellum. 
In contents and order it agrees with the preceding, even to the 
omission of Macarius and the error of Marie for Marine in the 
table, and the insertion of Tyburcien, etc. Lambert is omitted from 
table, but stands in text, as in other mss. It ends with the Dedi- 
cation, and a mere : ^^ Explicit la vie des Sains." The name of the 
translator, ^^ frere Jehan du Vignay," occurs, as usual, at the end 
of Dominick, fol. 235 (old No. 232). 

The Vignay mss. in the Bibliotheque Nationale are very numer- 
ous ; the present Catalogues name the following as Vignay ver- 
sions : Nos. 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 414, 415, 416 (all described 
by Paris, ii, 89 ff., and iv, 31-33), 6448 and 23114. Of these 
ten mss. I have examined only two, and those described as the 
oldest, Nos. 241 (ancien numero 6888), and 242 (ancien numero 



38 Legenda Aurea — Legende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

6888^ ). What I shall here say of MS. Fr. 241 must be supple- 
mented by Paris's description, vol. ii, p. 254. This MS. has a 
piece of parchment pasted in the binding which reads : " Richart 
de monbaston libraire a fait escrire ceste legende des sairis en fran- 
cois Ian de grace nostre seigneur mil • cccxlviij." Fol. 1 
begins : " Ci commence la legende des sains, translatee en francois 
par frere iehan de vignay, hospitalier de lord re de haut pas. Et 
ci cmence le prologue de celui frere. Me sire saint ieroisme," etc. 
After this prologue comes : " Cest le prologue sus la legende des 
sains que frere Jaques de Janes fist de lord re des freres preescheurs." 
After the prologue comes the table, with this rubric ; " Ci cmencent 
les chapitres de la legende des sains qui est dite legende doree.'' 
In contents and order it agrees with the Royal MS. But St. Machaire 
is not omitted from the Index, and Sebastian does not come before 
Fabian. St. John ante portam is omitted from the table, but is 
inserted in the margin, and comes after the Holy Gross, being fol- 
lowed by the chapter on the Litanies, Gordian and Epymaehe, and 
Sts. ^'Noir^^ and Achilles. And this MS., too, repeats the error 
found in Graesse and in MS. Royal, haying "de sainte marie vierge,^^ 
meant for St. Marine. 

After St. Lorens the Index puts "de saint tyburcien 'C' &• 
xvij," which is not, however, found in the text, as Hippolitus 
follows regularly on Laurence (fol. 202 b.). 

St. Giles occurs between caps. 126 and 127 of the Latin, but is 
in its proper place in the text (fol. 235 b.). Cornelien and Oyprian, 
and Lambert, as in Royal MS. St. Francis, omitted from Index, 
is inserted in the margin, and Pelagia and Margaret are counted 
as one chapter. 

Barlaam and Josaphat, together, cap. 178. The Dedication ends 
on fol. 343, and the colophon : " Ci fine la legende des sains qui 
est dicte doree." On the other side of the folio, apparently in a 
slightly different hand, we find : " Lespistre Saint Beneoit a Remon 
Arceuesque de coulongne du martire des machabees " — a theological 
treatise on the relations of the saints, etc. At the back, pasted in 
the binding, there is another note referring to Richart de Monbas- 
ton, and giving again the date 1348. 

In connection with this first group of MSS. we may mention one 
of the early printed copies of the de Vignay translation. This is 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 39 

in the Bodleian. It is printed by Guillaume Le Roy, Lyons, 1485 
{circa) y without title page, but on the fly-leaf: " La vie des Sainctz 
en francoys." It has a table of contents at the end. It seems to 
agree mainly, in order, with Graesse's Latin, lacking some of the 
peculiar features of the Royal MS. But here, too, we miss Sts, 
Sophia, Timothy J Fabian, Apollonia, and Boniface, The title ^' Ste 
Marine vierge • cxxiij •" is correct, but the Nat, John Bapt 
precedes Gervase, and Praxede follows Magdalen. Cornelien and 
Lambert are misplaced as in the Royal MS. After the Dedicatione 
€cclesiae, on fol. 299, without any note as to their being new legends, 
we find the following saints : 



FOL. 




FOL. 




299 ., 


.. St. Eloy. 


304., 


.. St. Yues. 


300., 


.. La Concepcion. 


306. 


.. St. Leys de france. 


302 . 


.. St. Guillaume. 


310., 


.. Ste. Barbe. 


302., 


.. St. Thomas Dacquin. 


310., 


.. St. Claude. 



This is an undoubted Vignay version, barring these added le- 
gends. But it is curious that his name does not occur in the pas- 
sage at the end of St. Dominick, where it is found in all the MSS. I 
have seen. In other respects it is quite like the MSS., apparently 
nearer to the text of Royal MS., though frequently furnishing cor- 
rected readings, as in the case of the etymology of the St. Stephen, 
from which we may quote later. 

This printed Vignay represents what we may consider the transi- 
tion stage from the first group of Vignay MSS., in which we get a 
real translation of the original Legenda, to the second group, still 
a translation, but with a long list of new legends. This group is 
represented by MS. Fr. 242 (ancien numero, 6888^). Here the order 
and contents are the same as in MS. Fr. 241 until we get through 
the Dedication {Legenda cap. 182), where we find, in the table : 
'' Cy apres cmence la table et les Rubriches des festes nouvelles 
selon 1 usage de paris, translatees de latin en francois par un maistre 
en theologie de lordre de nostre dame du carme. Lan mil quatre 
cens et deux." Here are the " festes nouuelles " : 

FOL. FOL. 

287 ... St. Eloy. 291 ... Sts. Ny chaise & Euterpe. 

288 ... St. Symeon. 292 ... St. Mor Abbe. 

290 ... Concepcion. 293 b . . Sts. Fuscien & Victorien. 



40 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 



I'OL. 




FOIi. 




294 .. 


. St. Policarpe. 


309 b „ 


.. St. Maturin de Sens. 


295 .. 


. Ste. Baudeur. 


310 .. 


. St. Gordien. 


295 b.. 


. Ste. Scolastique. 


310b.. 


. Sts. Tybureien et ah. 


296 .. 


. Ste. Eufemie. 


311 .. 


. St. Arnoul. 


297 .. 


. Sts. Ty burden & Valerien. 


312b.. 


. St. Donast. 


298 .. 


. St. Quiriace. 


314 .. 


. St. Turien de Dole. 


299 .. 


. St. Soupplice. 


314b.. 


. St. Fiacre. 


300 b.. 


. St. Losmer. 


316 .. 


. St. Justin. 


301 .. 


. Sts. Medard & Gyldard. 


316b.. 


. St. Victor. 


301b.. 


. Sts. Marth & Marcellin. 


317 .. 


. St. Marciel. 


303 .. 


. St. Guillaume. 


319 .. 


. St. Demetrien. 


203 b.. 


. St. Eutrope. 


320 .. 


. St. Rigobert. 


305 .. 


. St. Leuffroy. 


320 b.. 


. St. Landry. 


305b .. 


. St. Amand. 


321 .. 


. St. Mellonin de Bretaigne. 


306 .. 


. St. Germain de Paris. 


321 .. 


. Le Saint Sacrement. 


307 .. 


. Sts. Nazari & Celsi. 


323 .. 


. St. Thomas Daquin. 


308 .. 


. Sts. Caucien & Cancienille. 


324 b.. 


. Le Bon Dyacre (St. Voult de 


308 .. 


. St. Paulin. 




luques.) 


309 .. 


. Ste. Perronelle. 







The last of the new legends, telling of the finding of the '^ Saint 
Voult de luques," is very long, extending to fol. 336. Then comes 
the colophon : Explicit Iste liber j qui scripsit sit crimine liber. Some 
of the new legends are really duplicates of those given in the same 
MS. in the original portion ; but others that seem duplicates differ 
in some points. We may note that the Eufemie is almost identical 
with the one also found on fol. 212. The Sts, Tybureien, Valerien 
& Maximien (fol. 297) really embodies the Cecilia legend, but gives 
a fuller account of Valerian. St. Quiriace repeats most of the 
Holy Cross. St. Amand (fol. 305 b.) is not the same as the pre- 
ceding one, which is from the Lat. p. 175. Sts. Nazari & Celsi 
duplicates the chapter on fol. 252. St. Perronelle is not really the 
same as the one found in the Legenda, giving much more about 
St. Felicule. The St. Tybureien on fol. 310 b. is not the same as 
the preceding. The >S^. Donast is the same person, but a different 
legend from that on fol. 168. 

In connection with this MS. we may mention an early printed 
copy, which, although I have not seen it, seems from the descrip- 
tion to be based on the same translation of the ^^ festes nouuelles." 
This is the one by ^' maistre Jean Batallier," printed by Bartholo- 
mew Buyer at Lyons in 1476. Notice of it will be found in Bru- 



Legenda Aurea — Legends Dor^e — Golden Legend, 41 

net's Manuel, vol. v, 1368, and in other bibliographical authorities ; 
but a fuller account of Battalier and his revised edition of the 
Legenda is given in Echard, i, 853. This " Frater Joannes Batha- 
lier^' died, says Echard, in 1476; but we are not concerned with 
his biography. The colophon of this edition reads : " Cy finit la 
Legende doree, dite la vie des Saints en Francois, vue & diligem- 
ment corrigee auprez du Latin, & second le vrai sens de la lettre, par 
notable & religieux docteur maistre Jehan Batallier, docteur en la 
sainte theologie a Paris, de Fordre des Precheurs de la ville de Lion, 
par Barthelemi Buyer citoyen dudit Lion, le 18 avril 1476.'' 

The legends added to the original Legenda are thus introduced : 
" Cy apres s'ensuivent les histoires de la vie des SS. nouvelles 
nagueres translatees de Latin en Francois de la Legende doree I'an 
de notre Seigneur 1401, & ces histoires ont ete translatees par un 
maistre en theologie de Pordre de notre Dame du Carme." 
And the colophon : " Cy finit, (etc.) . . . pris & colligez de Vincent 
Historial en divers lieux." It will be seen that the same new 
translation seems to be meant in the MS. and in this printed copy ; 
the difference of one year in the dates would not tell against the 
supposition of identity. 

The third stage of the versions going under the name of de 
Vignay is reached when we find not only the embodiment of many 
new legends but a complete abandonment of the traditional order 
of the Legenda Aurea, Who is responsible for this sweeping 
change I have not been able to determine; the work still goes 
under the name of Jean de Vignay. There are also two represent- 
atives of this class — a MS., and a printed copy which is practically 
identical with the MS., even reproducing its errors. Though the 
MS. manifestly antedates the book, I shall describe the latter first, 
merely because circumstances led me to work upon it before I knew 
of the MS. 

It seems useless transcribing the description from the Brit. Mus. 
CataLy so I shall merely state that the book is a large folio, printed 
in double columns .of 44 lines, and containing 443 printed leaves. 
There is no date, or place, or name of printer, but it is assigned by 
the Cat. to Paris (?), 1480 (?). Its present number in the Cat. is 
G, 53. K, 1, the old No. being 1275. h, 3; and it is the oldest 
printed Vignay in the Museum. One of its former owners has 



42 Legenda Aurea — Ligende i)orie — Golden Legend. 

written some comments on the first page, just above the Prologue, 
saying, among other things, that much in the volume "fait aujourd'- 
hui douter s'il a fait au monde plus de mal que de bien ou plus de 
bien que de mal." There is no title-page, and the work begins 
with de Vignay's Prologue : " Monseigneur saint ieromme dist ceste 
auctorite / " etc., followed by Voragine's Prologue. Indulgence 
will have to be claimed for another table of contents, which I shall 
simplify as far as possible. 



roL. 




FOL. 


1 .. 


. De lavet nre seignewr ihu crist. 


69 


5 .. 


. De la natiuite " " " " 


70 


6 .. 


. De la circuncision " " " " 


72 


10.. 


. Des trois rois. 


73 


12.. 


. De la septuagesime. 


75 


13.. 


. De la sexagesime. 


75 


14.. 


. De la quinquagesime. 


76 


14.. 


. De la quarantaine. 


77 


15 .. 


. Des ieunes des iiij temps. 


77 


16 .. 


. De la passion nostra seigneur, 


78 




etc. 


79 


21 .. 


. De la resurrection nostre seign- 
eur, etc. 




26.. 


. Des letanies maieurs et mineurs. 




27 .. 


. De lascentton nfe seigneur. 




31 .. 


. Du benoit saint esperit. 


94 


37 .. 


. De la premiere partie de lex- 
positon de la messe. 


96 


39.. 


. De la secowde partie de la messe. 




43 .. 


. De la tierce partie " " " 




45.. 


. De la quarte " " " " 


103 


46 .. 


. Des X c5madems de nre loy. 


104 


47 .. 


. Des XII articles de nre foy. 




50.. 


. De saint andrieu. 




53 .. 


. De saint nicolas euesque. 


111 


66.. 


. De la coception nire dame. 


112 


68 .. 


. Des sains gentien, fulcien et 


114 




victorice. 


117 


59.. 


. De sainte luce vierge. 


120 


60.. 


- De saint nicaise. 




61 .. 


. De saint thomas apostre. 




63.. 


. De sainte anastaise. 




64.. 


. De sainte eugene. 




64.. 


. De saint estienne martir. 


136 


66 .. 


. De saint iehan apostre. 


137 



... Des innocens. 

... De saint thomas de cantourbie. 

... De saint siluestre. 

... De saint pol premier hermite. 

... De saint remy de rains. 

... De saint hilaire. 

... De saint fremin. 

... De saint macaire. 

... De saint felix en pinces. 

,.. De saint valerien. 

... De saint marcel (=: Leg. cap, 
20). We now go on as in 
Leg. caps. 20-31, Sebastian, 
omitted from table, is in the text. 
After cap. 30 : 

. . . De saint inlien, comes 

.. De saint ignace evesque, and 
then again like Lat. caps. 36— 
41, Vedast & Amand being 
transposed, then: 

... De saint iulien martir. 

.. De saint Valentin martir, and 
again regularly through Lon- 
ginus, next to this: 

... De saint benoit. 

.. De saint patrice. 

.. De saint benoit abbe. 

.. De lannuciaton nfe dame. 

.. De sainte marie degipte, after 
this regularly, Leg. caps. 56— 
70, omitting Antiochena, Fa- 
bian, and ApoUonia; in place 
of cap. 70 we get : 

.. Des sains nerin & achilles. 

... De saint pancrace. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 43 



FOL. 




FOL. 


138 . 


.. De saint second. 


214 


138 . 


.. De saint urbain. 




139 . 


. . De saint pierre lexorciste. 


^ 


139 . 


.. Des sains prime & feliciew. 




140 . 


.. De saint barnabe apostre. 


264 


142 . 


.. De saint sauue. 


266 


144. 


.. De saint waleri. 


266 


146 ., 


.. De saint tillon. 


267 


148 . 


.. De sainte austerberte. 


270 


151 . 


.. De saint vy & st. modest. 


273 


152 . 


.. De saint lieuin arceuesque. 


274 


155 . 


.. De saint piat. 


275 


156., 


.. De saint gillain. 


275 


157 ., 


.. De saint bauon. 




160., 


.. De sainte marthe. 




162 ., 


.. De sainte clare. 


332 


169 ., 


.. De saint apolinaire. 




172., 


,. De sainte cristine. 




175., 


.. De saint victorin. 




176 ., 


.. Des sts. geruais & prothais. 


342 


177 ., 


.. De la natiuite st. jean baptiste. 




180.. 


,. De saint iehan & st. pol martirs. 


365 


181 .. 


,. De saint pierre apostre. 


366 


185 ., 


.. De saint pol apostre. 


368 


188 ., 


.. Des sept freres. 


369 


188 ., 


.. De sainte marguerite. 


370 


188 ., 


.. De sainte praeste. 


371 


188., 


,. De sainte marie magdalaine. 


371 


192., 


.. De saint iacques apostre. 


372 


196 ., 


.. De saint cristofle. 


373 


198 ., 


.. Des sept dormans. 


375 


200., 


.. De saint felix. 




200 . 


. Des sts. simplicien, faustin, 


376 




etc. 


376 


200. 


,. Des sts. abdon et senen. 


377 


200., 


.. De la transfiguration nre seignr. 


378 


201 ., 


.. De saint geri. 


379 


204., 


.. De sainte waudrud. 


379 


207 ., 


,. De sainte germain. 


381 


208 ., 


.. De saint eusebe. 




209 ., 


.. Des sept raachabees. 


381 


210., 


.. De saint pierre aux liens. 


382 


212., 


.. De saint estienne pape. 


382 


212 ., 


.. De linuencion st. estienne (pro- 


383 




tomartyr). 


383 



... De saint dominique. Continues 
regular, caps. 112-131 ; after 
which comes^ omitting here 
caps. 132, 133 — 

.. De saint adrien. 

... De saint gorgon. 

... De saint prothe. 

... Exaltacion de la ste. croix. 

... De saint iean grisostome. 

... De saint cornelien. 

... De sainte eufeme. 

.., De saint lambert. 

... De saint mathieu apostre. 

Again regular, caps. 141-169 
of Leg.; after cap. 168 comes 

... De St. clement, and again regu- 
larly as far as end of Leg. 
proper, cap. 182, except that 
between 174 & 175 comes 

... De saint lyon pape. After the 
Dedication come 

... De saint eloy. 

... De saint simeon. 

.. De saint mor. 

... De saint policarpe. 

.. De ste. baudeur. 

.. De ste. scolastique. 

... De ste. cecille. 

.. De saint quiriache. 

.. De saint soulplis. 

... De saint losmer {inserted by pen 
in table). 

... De saint medart. 

... De saint guillame. 

... De saint eutrope. 

... De saint lieuffroy. 

... De saint karillephus&st.advit. 

... De saint nazareus. 

... Des sts. canci, cancien & canci- 
amille. 

... De St. paulin. 

... De sainte peronelle. 

... De saint maturin. 

., De saint gordian. 

... De saint gains. 



44 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Doric — Golden Legend, 



POL. 




POL. 


384. 


.. De saint arnoul. 


398 


385. 


.. De saint donat (inserted by pen, 
duplicate,/. 221 6.). 


400 


387 . 


.. De saint turien. 


412 


388 . 


.. De saint fiacre. 


415 


390 . 


.. De saint Justin. 


415 


390. 


.. De saint victor. 


420 


391 . 


.. De saint marcial. 


422 


393. 


.. De saint demetrien. 


432 


394 . 


.. De saint rigobert. 


434 


395 . 


.. De saint landry. 


436 


395 . 


.. De saint mellonin. 


437 


396 . 


.. Du saint sacrament. 





.. De St. thomas daquino. 

.. Du bon diacre . . . . st. voult 

de luques. 
.. De saint yues. 
.. De saint morant. 
.. De saint loys roi de frace. 
.. De saint loys de marselles. 
,. De sainte geneuieue. 
.. De sainte barbe. 
.. De saint alexis. 
.. De sainte audegonde. 
.. De sainte aubin. 



I have given the folio numbering according to the table ; it here 
differs slightly from the actual numbering of the folios, but not 
enough to cause confusion ; for example, the folios on which St, 
Aubin occurs are the last in the book, and are numbered 439 and 
440. It will be seen that there are comparatively few legends 
here which are not in one or the other of the previous French ver- 
sions. But the order of the legends, especially at the beginning, is 
very different. Before commenting on some of the peculiarities, 
let us say a few words about the MS. on which this printed copy is 
undoubtedly based. 

Stowe MS. 50-51, is the one referred to. This is fully described 
in the Catalogue : *' La Legende Dor6e : the French version of the 
Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, made by Jean de Vignay, 
circ. 1340, including the additional lives given by De Vignay for 
which there is no original in Jacobus. There are in all 236 narra- 
tives, including those which refer to Festivals, as well as the Lives 
of the Saints. Begins, without title, with the rubric : ^Cy comence 
le prologue de lacteur de ce liure,' etc., which introduces the trans- 
lator's preface, beg. * Monseigneur saint iherome.' The author's 
preface follows, beg. ^Le temps de ceste presente vie,' f. 1 b. The 
table of contents begins on f. 2, and the text of the work on f. 4. 
In two volumes. The last Life is that of St. Aubin, ending with 
the words ^ du benoit saint pere le filz et le saint esperit. Amen.' 
This MS., or one very closely resembling it, appears to be the orig- 
inal from which the copy 1275 h. 3 in the British Museum [un- 
dated, described in the Catalogue as 1480 ?] was printed. They 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 45 

agree in omitting the names of SS. Sebastian, Losmer, and Donat 
from the table of contents, though their Lives are given in the text. 
After the Life of Ste. Waudrut, with which the first volume of the 
MS. ends, a blank space of nearly a leaf is left in the printed copy, 
so as to begin the next Life at the beginning of a new leaf. Fur- 
ther, the water-mark of the paper of the MS. [a shield bearing three 
fleurs-de-lis, with a cross pendant below] is identical with that of 
the first 77 folios of the printed copy. Paper, except vol. i, ff. 1 
and 10, which are vellum. Two vols., ff. 242 and 282. Late xvth 
cent. The original foliation is continuous through the two vols., 
from 1 to v°xxx ; but in, (etc.) . . . On the last page of vol. ii 
is the name of Jacques Losien as owner, in a 16th cent. hand. 
Folio." 

This description is so full that it needs no additions. The 
MS. does seem to agree, even in spelling, with the printed copy, 
though some of its errors are not in the MS. One error that the 
two also have in common is here overlooked. Just after St. 
Pierre aux liens we find in the text : De saint estienne pape, 
and De linuencion saint Estienne. Both of these are omitted 
from the table of the MS. and of the printed version ; cf. the 
latter, pp. 212 b.-214 b. A number of minor errors in the MS. 
are reproduced in the printed Vignay, which also adds one or two 
on its own account. More may be noticed later, but we must 
mention that in the etymology of St. Stephen the error saine venue 
for fame veuue (printed V. fol. 64 b) is found also in the MS. (fol. 
25, MS. 51); while in the Seven Sleepers the printed V. (fol. 199) 
has left a blank space for a date, which some one has since wrongly 
inserted, and the MS. (fol. 234) has no error or omission here. 

These two texts agree with the earlier Vignay's and Latin mss. 
in omitting St, Sophia; St. Timothy (Lat. p. 222); St. Fabian 
(p. 291); St. Apolonia; and St. Boniface; to which we may add 
the omission here of De virgine quadam Antiochena. The first 
chapter on St. Benoit, though it has the etymology for his name 
carelessly prefixed to it (Stowe MS. fol. 1 36 b. ; printed V. fol. 1 1 1 b.), 
does not deal with St. Benedict at all, but with St. Maure ; the 
second chapter is the real life of Benedict : *^ Saint benoit fut enuoie 
a rome pour estudie" (sic; MS. fol. 139 b.; printed, fol. 114). 

At the end of St. Dominique we generally find the translator 



46 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

named (printed Y. fol. 221) : " Car ie frere iehan de vignay, trans- 
lateur de ce liure, ne veult cy plus raettre ceste vision, car elle est 
deuant en ce meisme chappitre " — cf. Royal MS. fol. 202 ; Eg. 645^ 
fol. 235 ; Fr. 241, fol. 195, etc. The Oxford printed Yignay (see 
above) is the only copy of this version I have seen which does not 
mention de Vignay in this place ; it ends exactly as the Latin does 
(p. 483). 

Even with the great changes in arrangement, and the numerous 
additions to the original Legenda, this latest form of the de Vignay 
Ligende dor6e is still essentially a translation of the Legenda Aurea. 
Where the so-called translation by Belet makes radical changes 
from the Latin, the early Vignay's are so little different from the 
Latin that we need only suppose, here and there, a text different 
from that given by Graesse to reconcile all divergences. And even 
in the latest forms, after de Vignay's work had undergone thorough 
revision by the " docteur de Notre Dame du Carme," by Jean 
Batallier, or by the unidentified reviser whose work is represented 
in Stowe MS. 50-51 and its printed replica, we still find the main 
body of the work a fairly faithful translation of Voragine. One 
salient point of difference between Belet's work and de Vignay's^ 
and one not without its significance in view of the suggestion that 
the " legende des sains doree " was not translated from the Legenda 
Aurea, is the treatment of the " etymologies.'' These are so im- 
portant in connection with our study of Caxton's sources that I 
shall postpone full discussion of them. But here we must remark 
that all the Vignay's give translations of Voragine's etymologies ; 
nay, more, even the earliest give some etymologies for which no 
Latin original is found in Graesse's text, e, g. St. Felix, Lat. p. 575^ 
cf. Addit. MS. fol. 160, Roy. ms. fol. 185 ; and Marina, Lat. p. 353, 
cf. Ad. fol. 127, Roy. fol. 146 b., etc. On the other hand, not one 
is given in the Belet mss., and the only thing which looks in the 
least like an " etymology," so far as I could discover, is in the fol- 
lowing bit from St Ernoul, not one of the original Legenda: 
" Bonne reson i ot pour quoi li peres {of St. Arnulphus) fu apelez 
rogaciens. Car rogaciens est dit de rogo, rogas, et dist autant roga- 
ciens comme priere (or priez). ... La mere ot non eufroise a bon^ 
quod est, bonum est sapiencia. Car sanz doute ele fu plainne de 
sapience et de bonte'' (ms. Fr. 183, fol. 191; ms. Fr. 185, fol. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 47 

178 b.). This is, of course, not derived from Yoragine, but is at 
least in the same vein as his etymologies. Why should the trans- 
lator — call him Belet, if you will — whose work is so much fuller 
in detail than Voragine's, and who has here shown that he could 
make as little sense as the next man out of an absurd bit of ety- 
mology, why did he refrain from translating those etymological 
paragraphs which are one of the distinctive features of Voragine's 
work? 

If our chief interest in the French versions of the Legenda Aurea 
does lie in those we have discussed at what may seem unpardonable 
length, we should not omit all mention of other attempts in this 
line. Besides the Belet and Vignay MSS. in the Bibliotheque Na- 
tionale we have others whose precise character is not determined 
by the Catalogues. There is a French prose L^gende dor^e in No. 
1054 (paper, 15th Cent., old No. 7339^), and Nos. 1534 (vellum, 
14th Cent., old No. 7583') and 1535 (paper, 15th Cent., old No. 
7583^-^). Finally, there seems to be a later version still in MS. 
15475, of the 16th-17th Century. 

We shall first mention MS. Fr. 1054, which has some interesting 
personal notes, and is fuller than any of the others examined. It 
is manifestly a late MS. The Vignay prologue is not found. The 
MS. begins with a translation of Jacobus's Prologue, and then goes 
on with Advent (a distinct translation, different, however, from the 
Beleth and Vignay MSS.), Andrew^ Nicholas^ Lucia, etc., the order 
being here quite similar to the present Legenda, But St, Lucia is 
incomplete, and is followed by (fol. 32) Lespurgatore S. Patrisse, 
which is not the Legenda version ; it is written in a different hand, 
and may possibly be an insertion. There are several similar addi- 
tions, such as a " Proeme sur le Pater noster," and a chapter on 
"Confession." After the latter we go on with St. Stephen, St, 
John, the Innocents, etc. All between Epiphany and Fabian is 
omitted. But it will be sufficient to state that we have here a 
pretty full translation, comparatively few legends being omitted ; 
and, what is more interesting still, in most cases the etymologies 
are given. I shall give a sample later. This is, despite the ety- 
mologies, not a de Vignay version, but a really independent trans- 
lation. On fol. 400 b, we find, at the end of St. Felix: " Escript 
et complete el monastere de saint nicholas du ( illegible) les 



48 Legenda Aurea^Legende DoHe — Golden Legend. 

c 

toitrnaj En Ian de grace mil • i i i j • & • xlj." Just below this, in 
very large letters, occurs : " Translate par ung poure pecheur & 
petit clerc / du quel dieu par les merites des sains nomes en cheste 
{sic) legende dor / et de tous aultres, voeulle conoistre le nom et le 
resoir de la douche vois de vie. veiies benois el regne adoons prepare 
de Dieu. Amen. Combien que la legende Dor ait este translatee 
par plusieurs notables clerSy desquels me soufie considerer la science 
et eloquence, che non obstant, par comand de obedience, car ie nai 
point volu par arrogance deflPendre mon ignorance, ai comprins 
cheste translation, (which he undertook to avoid idleness and its 
consequences, and) . . . . a le frequente supplicacion de aucuns 
bons freres, qui peust estre ne ont point grande conoissance de la 
langue latine, et par carite, qui che volume et aultre me a fait en- 
treprendre," etc. He ends with the usual sort of prayer to all the 
saints, to the reader, and to the Superior of his monastery. For 
the readings in this note I am not responsible, having been com- 
pelled, through lack of time, to rely absolutely on a transcription 
by a professional copyist; but the errors will, I hope, be over- 
looked. 

MS. Fr. 1534 is really an abridged translation of the Legenda, 
Not only are many legends omitted, but nearly all seem to be 
shortened. The MS. begins with the Passion, in verse ; then, on 
folio 19 we find: " Cy commence la legende doree. St. Andrieu, 
St. Nicholas" (fol. 21), etc., till we get to Thomas Becket, which 
is omitted. In all I count 76 legends, ending, on fol. 85 b., with 
de Dedicationej which is translated literally, with the omission of 
some paragraphs. Such well known legends as St. Ur^sulay St. 
Dominickj and St. Pelagius are among the many omitted. The 
nature of the work may be judged from this bit from St. Patrick^ 
fol. 35 b. : 

" Saint Patrice fu ung saint evesqwe • mout prudome • il requist 
a nre Sr. qui monstrast signe par quoy peust ses pechies purgier, 
De la vollente de dieu il lui fu monstre ung puis sy glit sy tres- 
parfont. Et ly fu reuelle ung lieu depurgatoire. Et qui la voudra 
descendre il ne soufferra ia aultre penitance ne aultre penitance (sig) 
ne aultre purgatoire • & mout y descendirent qui puis ne repparurent. 
Apres la mort saint pa^rice ung sien discipple (!) qui auoit nom 
nicolle sy voult descendre en celui purgatoire pour ses pechies pur- 
gier," etc. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 49 

MS. Fran9ais 1535, too, is a L^gende dor^e, and the legends, 
though less in number, are more fully rendered than in the pre- 
ceding MS. ; but it is a late MS., and we have not time to tarry over 
it, or over the still later MS. 15,475, which is assigned to the six- 
teenth, or even to the seventeenth century. These later mss. have 
been mentioned, indeed, more to show the continued popularity of 
the Legenda than as a pretense to anything like thorough study 
of them or of the many other late legendaries which a little care 
might discover. 

Chapter III. English Prose Versions. 

We are restricted to prose in the present discussion of the Golden 
Legend, for we cannot discuss here the difficult problem of the rela- 
tions between the Legenda Aurea and the many verse Legendaries 
that appeared about the same time. Of one point alone do I feel 
sure, and that is that the metrical versions of the Barlam found in 
the Vernon ms., in Bodl. 779, and in Harl. 4196, tell the Legenda 
Aurea form of the story, and therefore probably derived it from 
the Legenda Aurea. But on the general relationship of the met- 
rical Lives of Saints to the Golden Legend I shall merely cite 
Horstmann and ten Brink. The former says, in his Old Eng, 
Legendary (E. E. T. S., No. 87), based on MS. Laud. 108 : "The 
collection is a Liber Festivalis. ... It was made shortly before, 
or simultaneously with, the Legenda Aurea by Jacobus a Voragine, 
the famous store-book of mediaeval legends. Neither of these col- 
lections is the source of the other ; both were formed independently 
of one another, and prove that the same task, which was indeed 
required by that time, was attempted by different writers at differ- 
ent places." Ten Brink, writing about the legends compiled by 
the monks of Gloucester, says also (p. 268-9) : "At the time when 
their activity was at its height, the Italian Jacobus a Voragine, 
bishop of Genoa, wrote a similar legend-cycle in Latin prose, with 
the title Legenda Aurea. The exact correspondence between this 
work and that of some of the English legends, as shown, for in- 
stance, in the lives of Christopher and Margaret, has given rise to 
the theory that the Golden Legend was the source of many of the 
English lives of saints. It is to be remembered, however, that 
4 



60 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

Jacobus a Voragine often, without scruple, copied older texts, so 
that this correspondence may arise from a use of the same author- 
ities." 

A. There are five fairly complete mss. of the 15th century 
translation of the Golden Legend, and a fragment consisting of 
half a leaf, which seems to be one of the missing portions of one 
of the complete mss. We shall describe eath MS. in detail, attempt- 
ing to indicate their inter-relations, but reserving the last word on 
this question, as well as on the question of their being translated 
directly from the Latin or through the French, until we reach the 
study of the texts. The following table of contents attempts to 
show only the actual condition of the most complete MS., Harleian 
4775, Brit. Mus. Special comment will show the lacunae in other 
MSS., as well as some additions. The mss. will be referred to by 
abridged titles: Harl. 4775 = H; Harl. 630 = h ; Egerton 876 
= E ; Additional 11,565 = A ; Lansdowne 350 = L (all in Brit. 
Mus.) ; Douce 372 (Bodleian) = D. 



AP. 






CAP. 




1 . 


.. Seynte Andrewe. 


23.. 


. S. Anneys. 


2. 


" Nicholas. 


24.. 


. S. Vincent. 


3. 


" Luce virginne. 


25. 


. S. Basile Bisshopp. 


4. 


" Thomas ApostuUe. 


26 . 


. S. John the Aumenere 


5 . 


.. The Natiuite of oure lorde. 


27 . 


. Conuersion of Poule. 


6. 


.. S. Anastace. 


28 . 


. S. Pauline. 


7 . 


.. S. Stephene. 


29 . 


. S. Julian Bisshop. 


8. 


.. S. John Euangelist {end lost). 


30. 


. Septuagesme. 


9. 


.. The Innocentis. 


All these 


31 . 


. Sexagesme. 


10. 


.. S. Thomas of 


lost in the 


32. 


. Quinquagesme. 




Caunterbury. 


text, but 
names 


33. 


. The Lente. 


11 . 


.. S. Siluester. 


34. 


. The Quater Temps. 


12. 


.. The Circumcisioun 


still in 


35 . 


. S. Jgnacien. 




of our lorde. 


table. 


36 . 


. The Purificacioun. 


13. 


.. The Twelff dale {beginning lost). 


37 . 


.. S. Blase Bisshopp. 


14. 


.. S. Poule the heremyte. 


38 . 


. S. Agas virgine. 


15. 


.. S. Remygie Confessour. 


39 . 


.. S. Vedaste Bisshope. 


16. 


.. S. Hillarij Bisshopp. 


40. 


.. S. Amande. 


17 


.. S. Macarij. 


41 . 


. S. Valentyne. 


18 


.. S. Felix. 


42. 


.. S. Julian Virgine. 


19. 


,. S. Marcelle. 


43. 


. Cathedra sancti Petri. 


20 


.. S. Antony. 


44. 


. S. Mathewe ApostuUe. 


21 


.. S. Fabian. 


45. 


.. S. Gregorij. 


22 


... S. Sebastian. 




46. 


.. S. Longens. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 61 



CAP. 




CAP. 






47 


.. S. Benette. 


89. 


. 8. Praxede. 


48 


.. S. Patrik. 


90. 


. 8. Marie Mawdeleyn. 


49 


.. The Annunciacioun of oure 


91 . 


. 8. Appollinare. 




ladie. 


92. 


. S. Cristine. 


50 


.. The Passioun of oure lorde. 


93. 


. S. James Apost. 


51 


.. S. Seconde. 


94. 


. 8." Cristofore. 


52 


.. S. Marie Egipcian, • 


95 . 


. 8. VII slepers. 


53 


.. 8. Ambrose. 


96., 


. 8. Nazarien. 


54 


.. S. George. 


97 . 


. 8. Felix. 


55. 


.. S. Mark. 


98. 


. 8. Symplicien. 


56 . 


.. S. Marcelline. 


99 .. 


. 8. Martha. 


57 . 


.. S. Vitalle kojght. 


100. 


. 8. Abdonne and Sennes. 


68 


.. S. Petre of Melane. 


101 . 


. 8. Germayn. V 


59. 


.. St. Philipp Appostulle. 


102.. 


. 8. Eusebie. 


60. 


.. St. Jacob Appostulle. 


103. 


. 8. Machabeus. 


61 . 


.. The fyndinge of the holie eros. 


104., 


. Ad vincula s. Petri. 


62, 


.. S. John appostull. 


105., 


. The Fyndinge of s. Stephen 


63. 


.. The Ordenaunce of the letanies. 




{end lost). 


64. 


.. The Ascencioun of oure lorde. 


106 .. 


. 8. Domynyke. 


AU missing 


65. 


.. The Sendinge of the holie 


107 . 


. 8. Sixte Pope. 


in the] text /^ 




gooste. 


108 . 


. 8. Donate. 


names stilly 


66. 


.. S. Jerome Doctour. 


109 . 


. 8. Ciriak. 


in table. 


67 . 


.. S. Gordianne viker to Julian. 


110.. 


. 8. Laurence {beginning lost). 


68 . 


.. S. Nereyn and Achilley. 


Ill . 


. 8. Jpolite. 


69. 


.. S. Pancras. 


112 .. 


. The Assumpcioun of oure lady 


70. 


.. S. Urban Pope. 




(1 fol. lost). 


71. 


.. S. Pernelle. 


113. 


. 8. Bernarde. 


72. 


.. S. Petre the Dekenne. 


114.. 


. 8. Tymothei. 


73. 


.. S. Prime and Felicianne. 


115.. 


. 8. Symphorian. 


74. 


.. S. Barnabe and Levite. 


116.. 


. 8. Bartillemewe. 


75. 


.. S. Vitte Martir. 


117 .. 


. 8. Augustine. 


76. 


.. S. Quirine and Julite. 


118 . 


. St. Felixe. 


77. 


.. S. Marin virgine. 


119.. 


. Sts. Savineon and Savyn. 


78 . 


.. S. Geruase and Prothase. 


120.. 


. 8. Lowe. 


79. 


.. S. Albon and Amphiballe. 


121 .. 


. 8. Mamertyn. 


80. 


.. The Natiuite of S. John the 


122.. 


. 8. Gile. 




Baptist. 


123.. 


. The Natiuite of oure ladie. 


81. 


.. S. John and Poule Prouestis of 


124.. 


. 8. Cecile virgine. ^ 




Borne. 


125.. 


. 8. Adrian. 


82. 


.. S. Leonne Pope. 


126.. 


. 8. Gorgonien. 


83. 


.. S. Petre A post. 


127 .. 


. 8. Prothe and Jacincti. 


84. 


.. The Comemoracion of S. Poule. 


128 .. 


. The Exaltacioun of the eros. 


86. 


.. The lijfe of VII bretheren. 


129 .. 


. 8. Grisostomc. 


86. 


.. S. Theodore Martir. 


130.. 


. 8. Cornelien pope. 


87 . 


.. 8. Merg arete virgine. 


131 .. 


. 8. Eufemye. 


88. 


.. 8. Calixte {really Alexis). 


132.. 


. 8. Lambert. 





52 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 



CAP. 




CAP. 




133. 


.. S. Mathie Euangelist. 


157 .. 


. The nil corouned Martires. 


134. 


.. S. Moris Martir. 


158 .. 


. S. Theodore. 


135. 


.. S. Justine and Ciprianne. 


159 .. 


. S. Marline. 


136 . 


.. S. Cosme and Damian. 


160 .. 


. S. Brice. 


137 . 


.. S. Fursine Bissh. 


161 .. 


. S. Elizabeth. 


138. 


.. S. Mighelle the, Archaungele. 


162 .. 


. S. Cecile. 


139. 


.. S. Jerome. 


163 .. 


. S. Clement. 


140. 


.. S. Remiy:ie. 


164.. 


. S. Grisogone. 


141 . 


.. S. Leodegarie. 


165 .. 


. S. Katerine. 


142. 


.. S. Franceis. 


166 .. 


. S. Saturnine. 


143. 


.. S. Pellagien. 


167 .. 


. S. James callid Justi. 


144. 


.. S. Mergarete callid Pellagien. 


168.. 


. S. Pastor Abbot. 


145 . 


.. S. Thais. 


169.. 


. S. John Abbot. 


146 . 


.. S. Denis. 


170 .. 


. S. Moyses. 


147 . 


.. S. Calixte. 


171 .. 


. S. Arsenye the abbot. 


148 . 


.. S. Leonarde. 


172 .. 


. S. Agathen. 


149 . 


.. S. Luke. 


173.. 


. S, Barlaham. 


150 . 


.. S. Crissaunte. 


174.. 


. S. Pelagien {at least 1 fol. lost. ) 


151 . 


.. The XI Mil. Virgines. 


175.. 


. The dedicacioun of the chirche. 


152 . 


.. S. Symon and Jude. 


176 .. 


. The aduente. 


153. 


.. S. Quintine. 


177 .. 


. The Concepsioun of oure ladie. 


154. 


.. S. Eustace. 


178.. 


. The life of Adam and of 


155 . 


.. The Feeste of alle hallo wes. 




Eve. 


156 . 


.. The Commemoracioun of 
Soules. 


179 .. 


. The V wylis of Pharao. 



For a description of some of the technical details of H., h., E,, 
and D., see Horstmann, Program des Gymnas. zu Sagan, 1877, 
and Altenglische Legenden, Neue Folge^ Heilbronn, 1881, p. cxxx f. 
But some of Dr. Horstmann's statements are so mistaken that I 
shall give in full my own notes on the MSS., which will serve to 
supplement or correct his work. 

MS. Harl. 4775 is quite a handsome MS. ; though without mini- 
atures it has illuminated capitals in red, gold, and gilt, and on 
many folios a delicate vine-like tracery in green. In the table of 
contents which begins the MS. the initial letters are alternately red 
and blue; e. g. in Seynte Andrewe^ the S is red, in Seynte Nicolas 
the S is blue. The index, like the text, is in double columns, oppo- 
site the name of each saint or feast being placed the number of the 
chapter, thus : Seynte Andrewe .... Capitulo 1°. I may note 
here that the numbering in the table above is based on revision, 
and does not always agree with the actual numbering in index or 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doric — Golden Legend. 53 

text. At the head of the first chapter in the text stands : " This 
bok is compiled of the lyues of seyntes. Callid in latyn Legenda 
Aurea. ffirst begynnyth the lyff of saynt Andrewe." At the top 
of each folio in the text the rubricator has put the title of the 
chapter given below. 

Dr. Horstmann's statement that H. is " ganz ohne Lticken " 
(Progr. p. 5) will seem strange in view of the following facts. The 
folio numbered 16 ends in the middle of St. John the Evangelist^ 
with these words (cf. Lat. p. 58, 1. 14) : " The thrid is to a creatur; 
for the Sonne and the Mone and the sterris, the reyne — [catch- 
words) — and the erthe." But the next fol., 1 7, begins : " Heroude 
when they turned not ageyne to hym — " (Lat. p. 78) in the Epiph- 
any , which ends on fol. 18, followed at once by Saynt Poule the 
heremyte. Here is a lacuna ; we lose a large part of St. John, a 
portion of the Epiphany {Twelff daie)^ and all of the intervening 
legends, viz : The Irinocentis, St. Thomas of Caunthuryj St. Sil- 
uester, and The Circumsicioun of our lorde. Another large gap in 
the MS. begins in the legend of the Inuencion of the bodi of Seinte 
Stephne^ on fol. 136, b. The folio ends with these words: "But 
he kepte him to whom thei had kepte here feithe with oute eny 
varyinge and ^^ — (Lat. 462, 1. 10). The next folio carries us into 
the legend of St. Laurence^ with these words : " disese in her heed 
• and than seinte Laurence leide hys honde," etc. (Lat. p. 490, 1. 23). 
This is near the beginning. We have lost here nearly all of the 
Invencion of Stephen^ all of Sts. Domynyke, Sixte Pope, Donate, 
and Ciriaky and the first portion of St. Laurence. The next legend 
after St. Laurence is St. IpolitCy which is complete. But the As- 
sumpcion of oure blessid virgyn Seinte Marie has a folio (not more, 
I think) lacking; the lacuna occurs between ff. 146 and 147. The 
former ends : (Lat. 523, 1. 33) " that yf thou lyue hit is (catchwords) 
to us — ." Folio 147 begins : " he is • and so precious a tresour is 
more worthi,'' etc. (Lat. p. 526, 1. 23). After this there are no 
further gaps in the MS. that I have discovered until we get to the 
life of Pope Pelagien — the legend from which the Legenda took its 
sub-title of Historia Lombardica. Here, on fol. 246 b, a Narracio 
about Bede is broken ofi" with these words : "And the vers wolde 
in noo wise accorde, and so '^ .... (Lat. p. 833). The next folio 
begins : " passid neuer thries drinkinge,^' etc. (p. 837, 1. 8), which is a 



54 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

portion of an anecdote about Charlemagne, showing a loss of at 
least one folio. Only one leaf of the Fyve wylis of Kinge Pharao, 
" the whiche he usid agenst the childrenne of Israelle to kepe hem 
in his londe," is left ; it breaks off with these words : " For it is 
wreten in holie writte that it is an holie sacrifice to yeue entente to 
the commaundementis of god and to goo ''.... This is the last 
folio of the text, making 264 in all, as they are now numbered. 
After this comes a blank folio, with lines drawn on it as if for the 
continuation of the MS. ; it contains some quite irrelevant scribbling 
and rude drawings, in a variety of modern hands. 

Harl. 630 is a smaller folio than any of the other MSS., and less 
handsome ; but the writing is generally quite clear. Dr. Horst- 
mann is in error when he says (Progr.) that this MS. breaks off 
with St. Catherine ; but he corrects this later {Alteny, Leg.) ; the 
last legend, on fol. CCCLXXI (fol. 365 of present numbering), is 
"^e life of seint Saturnyne," which begins on fol. 364. The 
colophon of the volume follows at the end of this legend, and 
reads (in red ink) : " Here endeth the Boke of the life of Seintes 
called in latyn legenda aurea. compiled and drawen into englissh bi 
worthi clerkes and doctours of Diuinite suengly aftre ]?e tenur of ]?e 
latin." At the end of the legends follow two tables of contents, on 2 
leaves and a half (the back of the fol. containing end of Saturnyne 
and colophon). The first of these is arranged according to chapters, 
of which there are 126; but St, Leonarde is omitted, through a 
mere scribe's oversight, as there is a vacant space where his name 
should come in ; and St. Pelagien (before Margaret called Pellagien) 
is inserted ; as far as it goes, the table agrees in content and order 
with H. 4775 (there are many curious spellings and entries, such 
as : ^' The life of latenyes " = the litany). The second table is 
much less carefully done. It is intended as an index by folios, and 
furnishes one correction to the other table, viz : St. AllexuSy who 
is entered as St. Calyxt in the previous table. It extends only to 
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the last leaf being lost. 

The front page of this MS., containing the beginning of St. 
Andrew, has been roughly cut out, leaving a fragment about an 
inch wide, on which may be seen near the top traces of the flour- 
ishes made for the first capital. Only one leaf of St. Andrew is 
left (fol. ij). The legend begins : " yong men sailing in the see 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 55 

for to receine of him doctrine of cristen feith/' etc. {Leg, Aur,, 
p. 15, 7); and breaks off: *^And whan he was ledde to the crosse 
warde grete concours" — {Leg. Aur., p. 17). Then five folios are 
missing, so that on fol. vij, which is the next as the ms. now stands, 
we find these words : " that art be night entered into my place," 
etc. {Leg. J p. 26) — in the middle of the life of St. Nicholas. There 
are three leaves missing (Ixxxiij-lxxxvj) in the life of St, Gregory, 
The interruption is after these words on fol. Ixxxiij, b. (cf. Leg.^ p. 
192, 5) : " and of my name siker dere brother thu hast " — . The 
story is resumed : "the blode of my sone that is slayne" (cf. Leg.y 
p. 196, 10). In the life of Sts. Alban and Amphiballe there is an 
inserted leaf, it is not numbered (except by the mod. Arabic 
numerals), and comes in between folios clxix and clxx. At the 
bottom of fol. clxix, b, occurs the following note, in the same hand 
as most of the corrections : " next after this shuld folwe {word or 
words erased, apparently with a knife) .... ]>at is the begynnyng 
of ye next lefe .... shoidde (f illegible) come at this sign * " — which 
is found on fol. clxx. The inserted leaf is of slightly different 
size and quality of parchment, and is in a different hand, which, 
however, very closely resembles that in the rest of the MS. The 
differences lie in the form of the r, and of the paragraph signs, the 
latter being, moreover, all in red, instead of alternately red and 
blue as usual in the rest of the MS. The inserted leaf begins : "at 
00 stroke, J^e body falling doun to )7e groude," etc. (H., fol. 101, b.). 
It ends : " Therfore we that haue used " {sic), and a footnote states : 
" se more atte this same marke * " — which is immediately opposite, 
on fol. CLXX. There is a most curious accidental omission here of 
two full pages (one fol.) of matter, as is indicated by the lack of 
coherence in the narrative of the execution of St. Alban : " Oon 
was redy anone and toke a swerde and with gret cruelte he smote 
so ];e holi mariir in j^e nek j^at his hede was partid fro )?e body 
haue used an unprofitable religion " (I underscore), really fitting on 
to the above. It will be seen that the remarkable lacuna, which 
might have been due to a careless copyist's turning over two leaves 
at once, is bridged over by the inserted folio. After a comparison 
with H. 4775, I must admit that the differences are sufficient to 
make one doubt if the folio was copied thence. The peculiarities 
of spelling found elsewhere in the ms. are adhered to, there are 



66 Legenda Aurea — Ligende DoHe — Golden Legend, 

changes of construction and verbal changes from H. 4775, and the 
relations between the two seem much the same here as elsewhere. 

There are no further lacunae of importance. The short legend 
of St. Gorgonien is omitted : on fol. cclxxviij, b., where it should 
follow the life of St. Adrian^ we find the beginning of the life 
of Prothe & Jaoincti. The legend of St. Pellagien is apparently 
omitted ; it should come just before St. Margarete ; but the colo- 
phon of the legend ending here reads (fol. cccix, b.) : " here endethe 
the liffe of seint ffraunceis''; it is another scribal error, due to 
misplacing the colophon ; for this is really the end of the legend 
of St. Pellagien^ which begins near the end of the last folio, intro- 
duced by a simple heading : " pelagen," in black ink, by the careful 
reviser of this MS. In the same way, Sts. Colixt and Leonarde are 
apt to be overlooked, as their legends are not separated from each 
other or from that of St. Denys^ in which they are embodied ; the 
colophon reads (fol. ccc. xvij •) : " here endethe the liffe of Seint 
Denys'' — and Denys is erased, leonard being written over it in 
black ink. St. Calixt will be found on fol. cccxiiij, and St. Leonarde 
next. A similar correction of the title occurs in this MS. in the 
case of St. Alexis, on fol. c. xcvj •, where it is headed ^^Calyxt,^ but 
the C has been erased, and Alexius written in the margin. 

In a good many places this MS. (h.) has been corrected ; some 
instances have been given, and others will find their proper place 
when we come to the texts. But here I may state that I could not 
find any instance in which the corrections pointed unmistakably to 
any of the other MSS., and hence it seems likely that they come 
from some other unknown MS., possibly the one of which h. is a 
copy. 

Douce MS. 372 is rather fragmentary. The old Catalogue (1840) 
describes it thus (p. 65): " Membranaceus, in folio majori, ff. 164, 
sec. XV, ineuntis, binis columnis baud eadem manu descriptus ; 
quoad partem posteriorem anno 1438 exaratus, et anno 1460 pecu- 
lium Kateryn Burton ex legatione patris sui, Johannis Burton ; 
utrimque mutilus. The Golden Legend, or, Lives of the Saints, 
translated from the French into English. It commences from the 
words ^ knowliched that he was overcome bi hym,' in the life of 
St. Anthony. It differs both in the order and the text from the 
printed editions. At the end, ^ Here endith the V. wilis of king 



Legenda Aurea — Legends Doree — Golden Legend. 57 

Pharao whiche he used agenst the childrenne of Israelle.' *And 
also here endith the lives of Seintis, that is callid in Latynne 
Legenda aurea, and in Englissh the gilte legende, the which is 
drawen out of Frensshe into Englisshe, the yere of oure lorde 
a • M • c c c c • and • x x x v i i j ; hi a synfulle wretche, whos name 
I beseehe Jhesu Criste bi his meritis of his passioune and of alle 
these holie seintes afore written, that hit mai be written in the boke 
of everlastinge life. Amen. Also here endith the life of Adam 
and of Eve.' See above, ms. 15, ff. 8 b., 76. After the colophon 
occurs the following note, ' Be hit remembryd,' " etc. (as quoted by 
Horstmann). 

The new Catalogue (Madan, 1897, vol. iv, p. 610) gives (the No. 
is here 21947) the additional information that : " The book is badly 
mutilated and has lost many leaves : mutilated are foil. 14, 29, 40," 
etc. "A full description of the MS. is in C. Horstmann's Alteng- 
lische Legenden, Neue Folge (1881), p. cxxx. ... * E. Trotter' 
(17th cent.) is on fol. 8." 

In the binding of the MS. is pasted a slip reading : " 13423. 
Legenda Sanctorum, in Englysshe. — A large folio manuscript, on 
vellum, the initials highly illuminated. From Mr. Herbert's collec- 
tion, 51.5 s. Contains the following note : Conclude this booJce was 
wrote before the institution of the Order of the Garter, as no mention 
is made thereof in the life of 8t. George, as in Caxton's first edition 
of Legenda Aurea, 1483." This slip is, judging from the MS. note 
by Douce (?so Horstmann says, probably right), merely a book- 
seller's cat. note. There is quite a long note in what Horstmann 
calls Donee's hand, on one of the blank leaves at the beginning. 
It reads: "The ignorant and wanton spoliation of this still valu- 
able MS. is much to be regretted. I suspect that it had passed 
through Bagford's hands and had been shewn by hym to Walter 
Clavell. See his collections No. 5977 among the Harl. MSS. In 
Osborne's catalogue of Lord Oxford's library, vol. in, p. 125, men- 
tion is made of the bequest of a book by a Nun of Campessey in 
terms much resembling those in the last leaf of this MS. There is 
an English Golden Legend in the Harleian collection of MSS. No. 
4775 written at the same time as the present, and apparently by 
the same scribe. It is of the same size and, probably, a duplicate. 
The latter end is unfortunately wanting, but it has the beginning, 



58 Legenda Aurea — Ligende DoHe — Golden Legend, 

which this has not. Another copy, but likewise damaged and im- 
perfect was in Mr. J. Towneley's library and sold at his auction 
for £12. — Query, if this copy of Mr. Towneley^s MS. was not 
that mentioned in the extract from some bookseller's catalogue 
which I have pasted in the inside of the cover, and whether it is 
not now in Mr. Hebers' possession ? Mr. Hebers' MS. begins, 
mutilated, with the life of St. Andrew ; has lost several leaves in 
various places and ends, mutilated, in the ^ Storie of Cain.' Com- 
pared with Jean de Vignay's French translation it omits the 
interpretation of the names of the Saints and all following the 
dedication of the church. It adds the lives of St. Alban & 
Amphibalus and the stories of Adam, etc. It is a large folio 
written in the middle of the 15*^ century, and has some illuminated 
borders." As Douce says, the hand (at the beginning, at least) 
resembles that in H. 4775, and the design of the capitals is the 
same ; but it seems to us that it cannot be the same hand. 

I shall also indicate the exact condition of this MS., as nearly as 
I could discover it, with reference to the contents ; cf. the table of 
H. The MS. has been much mutilated by the cutting out of many 
of the illuminated initials ; but I shall not enumerate such mutila- 
tions except where they seriously damage the text. As Dr. Horst- 
mann says (Alteng. Leg,), the MS. is incomplete at the beginning, 
the first words being from St. Anthony : " knowleched that he was 
Guercome bi hym,'' etc. (Leg. p. 104, 1. 14). All goes well, with 
no serious mutilations, until we get to the end of St. Matthew, fol. 
26 b. This ends : "Bede seyth also );at hit"— (cf. Leg. p. 186, 
1. 34). The next folio begins : " deuynli shewed howe the relikes 
were preciouse" {Leg. p. 198, 1. 17), which would at first seem to 
indicate a very considerable lacuna, but the order of the narraciones 
is quite different from the Graesse text, and I doubt if more than 
a folio is lost. Fol. 29 has been mutilated by the cutting out of 
an initial ; and here another folio is lacking ; fol. 29 ends : "And 
)?an ];is heremyte jaf )?ankinges to god • and );ought," etc. ; the next 
begins: "be at the counsel that were parted • iij * dayes bifore," 
etc. (Leg. p. 195, 1. 17 ; and 201, 1. 20). A folio is missing from St. 
JBenet; fol. 30 b. ends : "constreyned hem to kepe more streytly " — 
(p. 205). The next folio begins : " he seid ];at he wold in no wyse 
last eny mete" (208, 1. 13). Then there comes a big gap after fol. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 59 

31, which ends: "ij. Nonnys of noble kynrede that coude not 
kepe her '^ — (210, 1. 39). The next begins : " man, and asked for- 
^euenesse and fro thens," etc. (p. 222), at the end of the Annuncia- 
tion, 60 we have lost a part of St. Benet, all of St. Patrick, and 
practically all of the Annunciation. After this comes a folio of the 
Passion (p. 226, 1), which breaks off: " hyt byhoued a gret space 
and a gret dilacion of tyme • and he asked of delyueraunce " — . 
The next folio (No. 33) has evidently been misplaced, as it 
begins : " pe sone of god, for it is trewe )7at bifore he had a sone he 
myht not be callid fadir,'^ etc., which is from St. Siluester (p. 76, 
1. 1), one folio being left here, showing that the legends coming 
before S. Anthony were once part of this MS. The present folio 
ends : " )?* |;ei sholde diligently gouerne ]>e Chirches & kepe her 
shepe fro bityng of ];e" — (p. 79, 1. 12). Folio 34 carries us into 
a fragment of the " Twelfthe day y is callid j^e Epiphanye.'' It 
begins (p. 92) : " in maner as it had been a guyde. & whan pes 
kynges . . . . <fe so entrid into ]>e hous • & ]>er ]>ei sawe marie & 
]>e Childe," etc. As in H. 4775, much of the theological matter 
of the Latin is left out, and the chapter is much abridged. After 
it comes : ^' of Saynt Poule the Heremyte, Capitulo * xiij °," which 
is complete, and is duly followed by Seynt Remigy, which breaks 
off: "And J>en long tyme aftir, so as Denobande (sic) had " — (p. 96, 
1. 37). The next begins : " whiche was cursid in the lawe shulde 
make an offering to oure lorde nother,'' etc. (p. 587, 1. 31), from 
the Nativ. of Our Lady, which ends on fol. 37, followed by Seint 
Cecile, capitulo • xxiiij — which is complete, and duly followed by 
St. Adrian, also complete. 

The next fol. (40) goes into the Passion of our Lord, see above; 
but it is still imperfect. Folios 40 and 41 have been mutilated by 
cutting out initials. On fol. 41 begins St. Secounde, which is com- 
plete, barring mutilation, and duly followed by Marie Egipciane 
(complete, cap. Ij.) and St. Ambrose. The latter breaks off on fol. 
44, b. : " we wil nat deliue?'e the Chirch of god for )7e'' — (257, 5). 
Folio 45 begins : '^ and that is signified the difference J^at is seid in 
the maistre of stories,^' etc., which is, as a marginal note shows, in 
the Adscensio (p. 320, 1. 30). This is regularly completed, but folio 
48 is badly mutilated, affecting the end of Adscensio and beginning 
of " \_Pentec'\oste • Cap". 1 x i i i j °." After Peyitecost comes St. Jerome 



60 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

(cap. Ixv.), on fol. 51, and next 8t. Gordian and SS, Nereyne <€r 
Achille (fol. 53). The latter is just complete, part of the colophon 
being gone. Folio 54 begins in the life of Barnabas : " with drawe 
jow fro suche vanites and conuerte jow to god '' (p. 347). This is 
followed by St. Vite^ 88. Quyrine and Julitte (cap". 1 x x v °), Maryne, 
etc., regularly, as in H. One folio, certainly not more, is wanting 
in Alban, after fol. 57, which ends : ^' Romaynes gretli oppressid 
the Bretons .... chose .... the Duke " — ; the next begins : 
" un to Albones house hors men with a grete power of foote men,'^ 
etc. Only a little more than one folio of Nativ. John Bapt. is left 
(ff. 63-64), and the end of John and Paul, 8t. Leo the Pope is 
complete, as is 8t. Peter. Several folios are lacking in the Com- 
memoracion of 8t. Poule. Fol. 69 ends : "thei were alle abasshid, 
for the bodi turned & ioyned " — ; the next : " Whan he is re- 
streyned of his sorwynge. Ryt so Poule,'' etc., near the end of the 
legend {Leg., p. 385, 1. 12 ; and 395). 

On folio 72 b., begins ")?e lyfe of seinte kalixt. Cap°. • Ixxxvij?." 
This is really the legend of Alexius ; and in the body of the legend^ 
as in H. 4775 and H. 630, he is called "Alex,'' or " Alix," though 
it is still " kalixt " in the colophon. This also shows that D. is 
akin to the two H. mss. 

Only about one folio of Marie Magd. is left, and about two-thirds 
of Appollinare. After fol. 78 we lose a leaf containing the end of 
St. Christqfore and the beginning of the Seven Slepers. The life of 
St. Dominik breaks off on fol. 88 b., thus : "And she . . . answerid 
.... I am pees )?at dwellith [here " — catchword'] ; the next fol. 
begins : "and constreyned hem to do sacrifice to Jubiter," etc., at 
the end of St. Donat. St. Sixte is, therefore, wanting (p. 482, 35 ; 
and 486). St. Laurence is also imperfect. It breaks off on fol. 
90, thus : "And Gregorie of Toures seith .... repaired the Chirch 
of seinte Laurence " — (p. 494) ; the next begins : " seith seinte 
Denys. And whan the blessid virgynes (sic) sawje " (p. 506, 33), 
which is in the Assumtio ; and this legend also lacks another leaf, 
as fol. 92 breaks off in the story of the devout clerk (p. 513, 2), 
and fol. 93 begins just before the story of the Jewish boy (p. 515, 
5) ; and another leaf after fol. 93. The legend was translated at 
full length. Two folios in St. Bartilmewe are mutilated. A good 
part of St. Augustyn is lost; fol. 102 ends: "singinge the songe 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 61 

u 

of degrees ]? jaf me " — , while the next carries us nearly to the 
end : " to Pavie with gret ioye, and \&re he was sette .... in the 
Chirch of seinte Petre," etc. ; the order is slightly different, as 
usual, from the Latin (p. 553, 1. 15; of degrees = gr^aduum ; and 
p. 562). The title reads erroneously (fol. 103) : *' Navien and 
Savyne," and colophon (104) " Navynien," as in H. After fol. 105 
there is a gap, but it is impossible to say exactly what is lost, as the 
Nativity and St. Cecilia both occur above. We have certainly lost, 
however, the end of St. Giles, and all of Adrian, as the next fol. 
begins with the colophon : " Adrean. And begynnithe the lyf of 
seint Gorgonien." The end of Eufemie is lost (fol. 110): "And 
anone thei ronnen to the virgine Eufemye" (p. 621, 37) — . The 
next goes to St. Mathew: "anone. and than the kinge J>* hight 
Eglippus sent," etc. ; not more than one leaf (p. 623, 37). Ouly 
a half dozen lines of the beginning of "seinte angell" are left 
(fol. 116). The next folio begins: "that was so drie scorchid 

e e 

in ]; grete heete of ]; sonne," etc. (p. 655), which is in St. Jerome, 
as a heading on the folio indicates. Folio 120, in St. Francis, 
breaks off (p. 667) : " Whan he was on a time in his praieris he 
sawe uppon the " — . The next begins : " neuer shriue of a synne 
that I shalle nowe telle you,'' etc. ; probably two leaves gone (p. 
672, 1. 21). Fol. 122, containing end of Pellagien and beginning 
of Margaret, is mutilated. Fol. 122 breaks off near the beginning 
of Thais, and the next begins : " shulde nat suffre suche sorowe,'' 
etc., in St. Denys, showing a loss of one leaf (678, 1. 15 ; and 682, 
1. 3). Folio 125 breaks off in St. Leonard: "he wende that he 
had dremed, and did noJ>ing " — ; the next goes on : " wisdome. And 
the storie seith he taujt whan he shewid," etc., in St. Luke, a loss 
of at least two leaves (p. 691, 1. 4 ; and 697, 1. 28). St. Ursula is 
incomplete. Fol. 128 takes us into Simon <Sc Jude, with these 
words : " mete or drinke or sleepe. the Appostullis come to hem and 
seide," etc., which shows a loss of two leaves. Folio 128 is also 
mutilated (p. 709, 1. 34). 

The Comemoracioun of alle Soulis has a lacuna; fol. 133 ends: 
** in a place besidis helle that is callid purgatorie " — ; the next be- 
gins : " in the deedis of the Appostullis : I sawe the heuen opene," 
etc., a loss of at least two leaves. Another folio is lost after fol. 
134, containing close of Theodore and beginning of Martin (pp. 



62 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 

729, 1. 39 ; 737, 1. 6 ; 740-743). St. Elizabeth breaks off in Nar. 
No. 9, p. 768 (MS. fol. 140). The next folio begins: "And his 
breste, and seide this daie I knoweliche the to my brothir," etc., in 
St, Cecile, as a headline notes (p. 773). This seems to be the same 
as that given above, fol. 37 following, but with slight orthographic 
differences, whose nature I shall not attempt to indicate. The lines 
just quoted appear also on fol. 38 : ['^ Cecile kissed his] breste and 
saide, this daye I knoulage the to be my brother." It is worth 
noting that this earlier chapter on St, Cecile is numbered xxiiij, 
and the Adrian, xxv (that is, the C is omitted, as they should be 
124, 125), while the later Cecile was, presumably, CLXii, since the 
following chapter, Clement, is 163, which agrees with the H. MS. in 
both cases. 

The St. Clement breaks off on fol. 143 : "And Clement tellith in 
his ''— (p. 784, 1. 7). The next folio takes us into the life of St, 
Catherine, near the beginniug ; as in the other MSS., it is somewhat 
different from the Latin (cf. comments below). As in H. and E. 
the life of "Abbot Arsieny " occurs on fol. 151, not distinguished 
from, the text of Moises, On fol. 152, after Agathen, comes "the 
life of Balaham ]>e heremite," which again agrees exactly with H. 
Unfortunately it is incomplete, breaking off on fol. 154 : "And tha 
he avised hym and thought that hit was better " — cf. Leg. p, 
820, and Progr. p. 14, 1. 35. Fol. 155 goes into Pelagien: "anone 
he confessid with clere vois the holie gooste," etc. (p. 842), indi- 
cating the loss of a good many folios. After fol. 156 there is 
another lacuna, in which we lose half of the Dedication, all of 
Advent, and all but about twenty lines of the Concepcion. The 
last piece, the Pharao, is complete. The mutilation of folio 157 
affects slightly the Adam, 

In MS. Egerton 876 we find again some approach to complete- 
ness, a relief after the confusing gaps in D. The Egert. MS. is 
more carefully written than H., and is altogether the best specimen 
of work among our mss. But I shall again dispense with mere 
descriptive details, and note only, by way of supplement to Dr. 
Horstmann's comments, some peculiarities, and the lacunae in the 
contents. 

This MS. contains at the beginning a table of contents, in a mod- 
ern hand, giving references to the folios, which have been numbered 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 63 

by the same hand, followed by what is called a Glossary, whose 
value may be guessed from this : " Unuethe — not, at last, before;" 
two leaves are filled by the table and Glossary ; at the end of the 
latter is the note : ^* N. B. Kead with this Legend a Book Call'd, 
Reflections upon ye Devotions of ye Roman Church, printed at 
London for Rich* Royston An. Dora. 1674." The first folio, con- 
taining the beginning of St. Andrew, is gone, and portions of the 
second are illegible. The close of SL Nicholas is lacking ; fol. 6 
breaks off : " that whanne he fille into the see anone the bisshop 
seint Nicholas come"^(p. 29, 1. 2) — and the next folio (7) begins : 
"And thanne the apostill taught shorteli," etc. (p. 37, 1. 39), in St, 
Thomas, showing a loss of, probably, two leaves, with end of 
Nicholas, Lucy and most of Thomas, All seems right until fol. 
57, which ends : "thou hast more tormented hym with" — (p. 172, 
1. 2) — and fol. 58 begins : " his sone, ne the sone the fader, for 
Ruben wende," etc. (p. 185, 1. 5) ; so we have two incomplete 
legends (Agas and Matthew), besides losing all those intervening. 
There is another gap after fol. 64, which ends : " in that tyme men 
helde more in chirches — " (p. 201, 1. 9), in Gregory ; and fol. 65 
begins : " priuely fro his norice," etc. (p. 204), in the beginning of 
St, Benette, with loss of all of Longens, Only one folio of St, 
Mark remains ; it begins near the bottom of fol. 85 b., which breaks 
off: "Seint marke .... was of the ordre" — (p. 265) — and the 
end is found on the next fol., which starts: "smyten of withe an 
axe," etc. (p. 269, 1. 35). The legend of Sts. John and Paul, which 
Dr. Horstmann also omitted from his table of H., is on fol. 141. 
The St. Francis breaks off, fol. 245 : " In the Citee of Susse that 
an " — (p. 673, 1. 32) — and the next folio goes to Thais, as a mar- 
ginal note shows : " — well that be thi praiers y may haue foryeu- 
enesse," etc. (p. 678, 1. 15), with loss of Fellagien and Margaret. 
The Commemoracion of Soules breaks off, fol. 269 : " for the soules 
that passe oute" — (p. 738, 1. 27) ; and, again, a marginal note tells 
us that the opening words on fol. 270 are from St. Theodore (p. 
741, 1. 5) : " with a gret suetnesse of sote sauour," etc. ; we lose 
all of the IV Crowned Martirs, and nearly all of Theodore, as well 
as the end of All Souls, The life of the Abbot Moyses, on fol. 299, 
agrees with the Latin, except that, as in other mss., it lacks the last 
tale (p. 807) ; and immediately after it comes the life of " seint 



64 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend, 

Arsenye the abbot" without any separate chapter heading, and the 
colophon, too, states erroneously : " here endithe the liff of Abbot 
Moyses" (cf. H. fol. 237, and D. fol. 151). Advent is incomplete; 
fol. 324 ends : " that haue similitude of sterres. and thei be said " — 
(p. 6, 1. 20) ; the next folio begins with the title of Adam and Eve, 
The last four or five folios of the text, including all of Pharao, 
are so badly damaged as to be almost illegible. After the close of 
the Pharao we find some leaves of a sort of index, in the same 
hand as the table at the beginning. 

Lansdowne MS. 350 is described in the Catalogue as containing 
'*a fragment of the Golden Legend, in English, written in the 
xvth century.^^ Only half a page is left, bound up in a volume 
with other things, which do not concern us. The MS., I should 
judge, was originally about the size of H. or A. It is written in 
double column, like the other MSS., and, where not defaced by ill 
usage, the writing is clear, with two large colored initials left. One 
side of the leaf is almost illegible. It begins : " [ta]ke hit ayen, 
and sone aftir he dyed. And yet att this day hit is kept that men 
maken her oth for gret causes upon the reliques of seynt pancrace." 
(cf. Leg, p. 341). Next come fragments from UrbaUy from Pernelley 
and (verso) Petre the Dekenne, the leaf ending with another frag- 
ment from Prime and Felicianne. Judged by the size of the page, 
general appearance, and handwriting, this leaf seems one of the lost 
portions of Add. 11,565, which has a lacuna just where these legends 
should come in, and I have no hesitation in saying that it is so. 

Addit. MS. 11,565 is the last of our MSS., and the most important. 
One of the surprising things about it is that it escaped Dr. Horst- 
mann's notice ; but this may be due to the misleading way in which 
it is coupled, in the Catalogue^ with Egert. 876 (= Addit. 11,565), 
as if it was merely another numbering and name for the same MS. 
But it is separately described under its proper number, and what 
the Catal. probably meant was that it, like E., was a MS. of the 
15th century Golden Legend. We shall describe its present condi- 
tion as minutely as possible, for the additional legends found make 
this MS. the corner-stone of the argument as to Caxton's sources. 

The volume contains, first, Bonaventura's Life of Christ (incom- 
plete), in English prose. And then, on fol. 34 (according to the 
modern numbering), in a very similar hand, and in the same general 



Legenda Aurea — Lk/ende Dork — Golden Legend. 65 

style, we find our Golden Legend. It is introduced by this heading : 
" Here bygynneth the life of seyntes. and this boke is called yn 
latyn legenda ^anctovum. Of the whiche first bygynneth the life 
of Seinte Andrewe the Apostle. S^ S. S. S." The ms. is not so well 
written as H. or E., and in a slightly larger hand, but is quite clear. 
The text is, where they agree at all, as close to that of the other 
MSS. as they are to one another, showing that all belong to the same 
translation. As in h., we sometimes find marginal notes, in what 
seems a contemporary hand, like that which numbered the folios 
before the rubricator did his work, and some of these emendations 
will be noted below. The folios were originally numbered in red 
(Roman), but the rubricator never finished his task, and through 
a third of the work we have only the numbers in faint black which 
were later to have been covered by the red ; there is also a modern 
numbering, to which I refer by Arabic numerals. The pages of 
the MS. are about the same size as those of H. ; aud there are 
initials, but not as elaborate or as well executed as those in H. and 
E. The MS. has been considerably damaged by rough usage, some 
folios being cut, some blackened as if by water, or rubbed so as to 
be all but illegible, to say nothing of the numerous folios lost. As 
the general content and order is the same as in H., except where 
otherwise specified, I shall not repeat the table, but merely indicate 
the gaps and departures from the normal. The top of fol. 39 is 
cut away, so that we lose a portion of SL Thomas^ which begins 
here; and similarly, of course, on verso. A similar mutilation 
(same legend), less extensive, on fol. 40, col. 1. There is one folio 
missing after fol. xi (44) containing the end of St. John and begin- 
ning of the Innocents ; fol. 44 ends : " and prayth til ye se thes 
yerdes & thes stones turne in to her owne nature " — [Leg.^ p. 59, 1. 
8). Fol. 45 (these numbers take no account of lost leaves) begins : 
" same toke the rewme of yude of Cesar August " (p. 63, 1. 24). 

The title of the legend " of seint Thomas of Canturbury. And 
of Gilbert Beket his fader '^ (fol. 45, b.) is enough to attract our 
attention. It is, indeed, a totally different story from that in the 
Legenda and in E. and h. MSS., and furnished the earliest instance I 
discovered in which Caxton had used something not in the Legenda^ 
and not in Vignay, and not in Belet. That he used this MS. version 
will be shown by certain parallels to be given later. The title of 
5 



66 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

the present chapter has pen-strokes through it, as has the text itself 
(cf. other lives of Becket, and notably the Caxton, see Blades) ; but 
the lines are too faint to injure the text. The legend breaks off 
near the end, which approximates to the Latin here, on fol. XX 
(52) ; "And than his brayne ran al aboute his hed like [a diademe. 
And" — catchivords], cf. Leg,y p. 6S. 

The next folio is numbered xxix (53), which, if it be correct, 
shows a loss of eight folios. We begin with these words " — of oure 
lorde. And than al the peple tende ])ere tapyrs of hir tapir," etc., 
which is a familiar anecdote, though new to the Legenda in any 
previous form, being from the life of St. Dunstan! We cannot 
pause here to show the close parallels to Caxton, or to speculate as 
to what other new legends might have been on those eight lost 
leaves. The St. Dunstan ends on the reverse of fol. 53, and is 
succeeded by another new legend : St. Aldelme the confessour. Then 
(fol. XXX = 54) St. Theophile, which is new in our MSS. ; it has lost 
one folio, after 54 : " And than the Jewe and his moder with many 
othir Jewes" — (Narracio 5, in Leg., p. 515-16). The next fol. 
continues the miracles of the Virgin which make up the latter part 
of the chapter entered under the well known name of TheopMlus, 
whose story will be found in Leg. p. 593-4 ; cf. p. 871, and the 
cognate story in St, Basile, p. 122. And Theophilus is found again 
in this MS., as in the others, in the Nativity of our Lady, fol. CLXX 
(164); but in the present chapter it is given more fully than in 
the Lat. p. 593. The chapter ends ; " Here endith the life of seint 
Theophile. and next bygynneth the life of seint Swythen." We 
now get : St. Swythen^ St. Kenelme, St. Chadde, St. Cuthbertj St. 
Feiih (all new, except last), St. Dorathe (new to mss. ; from Lat. p. 
910), St. Leger (Lat. p. 660, repeated below, f. 180, and in other 
MSS.). St. Brandan begins on fol. 59 (xxxvi), and breaks off on 
fol. 61 b. : " for he shal suffir peyne therfore here in thy" — .^ Only 
one folio is lost, and the next (xL = 62) begins the life of Silvester, 
followed by the Clroumcision, and the Epiphanye, both, as in other 
MSS., slightly compressed translations of the Latin. The order of 
H. is now resumed. 

The title of St. Fabian (H. cap. 21) reads (fol. xlviii) : Sebas- 

^ Caxton, K. P. p. 1137, omits the sentence of which this is a part; it should 
come just before his sentence: "and these two oxe tonges that hange," etc. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 67 

iiaUy an error which the colophon corrects. After fol. 84 we lose 
a folio with the end of Purification and part of Blase. The fol. 
■ends : "And it is seid also ypotant, that is presentacion as to the 
yefte '' — (cf Lat. p. 163) ; the next folio begins : " — cucion of dio- 
clision. And there he leuyd the life of an hermite'^ — in the life 
of St. Blase (p. 167). On fol. 88 b. the " ohayryng of seint peter " 
breaks off: "thei schoven his crowne of his hed in the hiest parte 
therof in dispite of" — (p. 182). The next folio begins, in the 
middle of St. Matthew : " — of me in Jerusalem and in al Jude and 
Samary," etc. (Lat. p. 186). In the last col. of fol. 96 b. (lxxvi) 
begins the "Annunciacion of oure lorde Jhu crist " (same as else- 
where, despite difference in title), which breaks off just below : 
" ffirst^ for the orders of reparacion answere to the order [of pre- 
uaricacion" — GatGhwords~\ — Lat. p. 216. The next folio is num- 
bered Lxxxv (97), so we have again lost eight folios. We find 
ourselves in the life of Ambrose (Lat. p. 255) : " — ne and he 
aroose and come to melane in hast." Presuming that the order is 
the same as in H., we have lost nearly all of the Annunciaciony all 
of the Passion, Seconde, Marie Egipcian, and half of Ambrose , 
after which we go on regularly through cap. 64, Asoencion. This 
€nds at the top of the second col. of fol. ci (113 b.), with the colo- 
phon announcing : " and next bygynneth the fest of Pentecost." 
But the rest of the column is blank, and at the bottom, in the margin, 
is a scroll with the catchwords : " So as the story," which are the 
first words of Pentecost, cf H., fol. 85 ; h., fol. 142 ; E., fol. 111b. 
But the next fol. begins : "by gret dispite, and skrat hym in the 
uisage," etc., in Quirine and Julite (Lat. p. 352) ; the folio is num- 
bered ex (114), so we have again lost eight leaves, containing, pre- 
sumably, all the legends between caps. 65-76. Among these, as 
noted above, would be Urban, Pancras, Pernelle, Peter, Prime and 
Felician, fragments of which are in Lansd. 350. 

In the St. Albon there are several instances of marginal correc- 
tions; e. g. on fol. 116 b. the text omits a whole sentence, Mary's 
question to the angel, in AmphiabePs narration of the Annuncia- 
tion ; in the margin it is properly inserted : " ];an seid mary to 
}?e angel, how may this be sith j knew neuer man ? " And there 
are quite a number of verbal corrections on fol. cxv, in the account 
of the multitude passing the river to witness Albon's death. 



68 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 

The cap. on Abdon and Sennes has been misplaced ; instead of 
coming between Martha and Germayn, it follows the latter, on fol. 
145 b., and is incomplete. This folio ends : " and lede hem with 
hym boiinde yn to the Cite of Cor [dale. And ther he made " — 
catchwords], Lat. p. 447. The next folio finds us in the middle 
of Laurence (Lat. p. 494) : " othir partie alle brent, as it appered 
yn the morowe to alle visible." From the original numbering (in> 
black ink now) it would seem that we have again lost eight leaves^ 
between ff. CXLI and CL, with all of the legends between the Ahdon 
(here = H. 101) and cap. 110. In the legend of the Assumpciony. 
fol. CLii (148) ends: "Seint Jerom (Lat. p. 511 has AugustinuSy. 
= E. f. 193, Seint Austine) ne afPermeth this thymg (sic) oonly but 
proueth hit by i i j resons. And the first reson " — . The next foL 
begins : " not Orphanes. And the blessyd virgyn Marie," etc.,^ 
showing a loss of two leaves at least (cf. Lat. p. 518). The unfin- 
ished task of the rubricator is responsible for the omission of the 
" verse ayenst hem that loued detraccion," written by St. Augus- 
tine " yn his borde," see Lat. p. 555 ; a space is left for its insertion- 
on fol. 158, and the translation is given, though the Latin is- 
omitted : " This is to say, who so euer loue to myssay any creature 
that is not here present att this borde he may welle say hit is denyed 
him att alle." A similar instance occurs on fol. 173, cf. Lat. p. 
591. There is a folio missing between CLXXii and CLXXiiii. The 
former breaks off in the legend of Adrian : " art made worthy to< 
be yn the noumbre" — (p. 600); the latter begins : "kyssyd hym. 
But Eugeny hadde vtterly abhominacion of hir," etc., in Prothe 
and Jacincti (p. 603). On several previous pages one finds the 
name of John Elger^ in a modern script ; and the same occurs sev- 
eral times on fol. 169 b., once in print-like letters, with the date 
1680, and once Thos. Elger, 

The life of ^^ St. Matheu " has a misleading colophon : " here 
endith the life of seint Crisostome" (fol. 172, b.); it should be 
MattheWy followed by St. Moris, which breaks off: "they yeldyn 
to god that longyde to godde, and to Cesar that Ion " — (Lat. p. 
629). The next goes into Justine (p. 633) : " with Ciprien. and att 
last she conuertyde hym," etc. The chapter on the " holy sollem- 
pnite of seint mychael," which begins on fol. 175 b., introduces an 
interesting addition. We find, first, as in the other Mss., a version 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 69 

based on the Legenda, though differing slightly in order from the 
Oraesse text. All the other mss. end with the translation of the 
words (Lat. p. 649) : Tunc summus pontifex .... statuit celebran- 
dum ; cf., for example, E., fol. ^38, with the colophon : " Here 
•endithe the lyff of seint michael. and next beginnethe the lyff of 
Seint Jerome. Cap. cxxxix." But in place of this the present 
MS. has : " Here folowith an exposicion of the same mater here 
byfore reherssyth (s^c), made by a nother doctour of holy chirche." 
This additional story has nothing to do with the conclusion as given 
in the Legenda, and, except for the first few sentences, nothing to 
do with St. Michael : it is a familiar sort of " legend " masquerad- 
ing under his name, and is the prose form of what is found in the 
Early South Eng. Legendary (Laud MS. 108), p. 311 ; the relations 
between the two must be discussed later. After this new chapter 
we go on regularly with St. Jerome, St. Regius (in text it is Remige), 
etc. The legend of St. Theodore, which should come after "the 
IIII corouned martirs,^^ on fol. ccix, is omitted. Similarly, St. 
Cecile is omitted after Elizabeth, fol. ccxv, next to whom comes 
Clement; it is to be noted that this omission is proper, as Cecile 
occurs above on fol. 172 ; the other mss. have duplicated the legend. 
The last legend left in the volume is the incomplete St. Katheryne, 
which, as in other mss., is different from the Latin. It begins 'on 
fol. 210, and breaks off three folios later, losing about a fourth of 
the story, thus : " thou merueloust (sic) gretly of this temple that 
is made with manys honde, and of the precious ornament that shal 
be as poudre byfore [the wynde thou" — catchwords'], cf. E. fol. 
292 b. I think we may safely guess that this MS., more compre- 
hensive than any of the others, originally contained the dozen or 
more legends remaining in E. and H. That this MS., as well as all 
the others, suffered in Protestant hands is shown not only by the 
defaced Thomas d Becket, but by the frequent erasure of the word 
Pope; e. g., on fol. 170, and cf. H. ff. 92, 108, 117, etc., and h. f. 
155, etc., etc. 

The additions made by these English mss. to the original material 
of the Legenda are comparatively slight, if we except those in A. 
I have been able to discover only five : (1) St. Katherine, (2) Alban, 
(3) Concepsioun of oure ladie (which is, however, in the addenda to 
Jacobus's work, p. 869), (4) Adam and Eve, and (5) Pharao. The 



70 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

2nd, 4th and 5th are manifestly new ; I have noted the source of 
the 3rd. The first bases on another version of the St. Katherine 
legend, and is the same in all the MSS. Here are a few lines from 
the beginning (E. f. 286 b.; A. f. 210; h. f. 359 b.; D. f. 145, 
etc.) : " Here beginnithe the right excellent and most glorious lifT 
and passion of the right blessed uirgine seint katerine, whiche bi 
dissent of lyne was of the noble kinrede of the Emperours of Rome, 
as it shall be declared more pleinly here after bi a notable cronicle ; 
whos most blessed lyflp and conuersacion was wretin of the solempne 
doctour athanasius, that knewe her birthe, her kinrede, her lyff and 
conuersacion,^^ etc. 

The Add. MS. gives us the following new legends, some of which 
are, of course, but variations on old themes : 



Thomas Becket {incompL). 


Swythen. 


Feith. 


Dunstan {incompl.). 


Kenelme. 


Dorathe. 


Aldelme. 


Chadde. 


Brandan {incomplete). 


Theophile {incompl.) 


Cuthbert. 


Michael {2nd part). 



With these exceptions, the material in the English version comes 
from the Legenda Aurea. Was the translation direct from the 
Latin, or through the de Vignay French ? Those who have been 
before us have inclined to the latter view. Dr. Horstmann says 
(Alteng. Leg., N. F. p. cxxxiii) :...." it is certain that the work 
is not translated directly from Latin, but from French. I decide 
rather for the credibility of the notice in the Douce MS. [^ drawen 
out of Frensshe into Englisshe,' as against Harl. 630, ^aftre j^e 
tenur of J>e latin '].... The English version follows de Vignay's 
translation exactly, word for word, and has the same contents ; only 
a few pieces are added (as Machar)," etc. This last statement shows 
how cursory must have been Dr. Horstmann's examination ; for, as 
noted above (p. 36), Macarius, though omitted from the index, occurs 
in the text of the Vignay MSS. But we have whole pages of evi- 
dence to show convincingly that the English MSS. by no means 
follow Vignay word for word, and though all of it cannot be given, 
I shall present enough to show that the English translator used the 
Latin, even if he did also know the French. 

In the first place, we may reason somewhat as in the case of the 
Belet French : the English MSS. do not translate any of the Legenda 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 71 

etymologies ; they would have been much more likely to have done 
so had these puzzling bits of Latin been already turned into French, 
thus furnishing a model, in the original from which they drew. 
But this, of course, is a mere matter of opinion, in which many 
may differ from me. Let us note a few details in certain legends 
— it would be impossible if not unnecessary to examine them all — 
wherein the English differs from the French. To facilitate refer- 
ence we shall use these abbreviations : Vignay MS. Add. 16907 = 
Va.; MS. Egert. 645 = Ve. ; Ms. Royal 19B. xvii = Yr. ; MS. 
Franpais 241 = Yf. ; Franpais 242 = Yff. ; Oxford printed Yig- 
nay = Yo. ; Stowe MS. 60-51 = S., and its printed replica = Y. 
The short legend of ISt. Marine (Lat. p. 353) is not in S. or Y., 
but is in other versions, e. g. Ya., fol. 127 ; Yr., fol. 146 b.; Yo., 
fol. 123, etc.; and in the English MSS., e. g. A. fol. 114, and E. fol. 
124 b., both of which agree in all essentials. These MSS. have the 
following sentence, which is not in the French, and not in Graesse's 
text : ^^And so he dyed and sche abode in her holy purpos. And 
contynued hir selfe {E. lyff) as an holy monke, Unknowyng to 
dAle creatures that she was a woman." The absence of these words 
in our present Latin does not count against my point : it is certain 
they do not come from the French. An exactly similar state of 
affairs occurs just below : " Whan the fader and the moder herd 
this, they went to the abot and made an horrible clamor upon hym 
for his monke . the abbot, hauyng gret schame and sorowe for the 
foule clamor, sent for maryne, and askyd," etc. This, too, is neither 
in the French nor in the Latin ; several other instances occur in 
the same legend (cf. for the story, St. Theodora^ p. 398-99). Again, 
in St. Pernelle (p. 343), the Latin : " et postmodwn in equuleo tortam 
occidit/' is rendered by the MSS. (Eg. f. 121) : *' and sethe he made 
her to be tormented upon the turment that is called Eculee. And 
sithe he dede her to be slayne " ; whereas the French has (Ya. 
123 b. ; Yr. 142 ; Yo. 120) : " et puis la fist tormenter en couuent 
deculee (szc, Vr. & Vo. simply en eculee). Cest un torrae?it fait en 
la lumiere {sioy Vr. & Vo. maniere) dun sautoir {Vr., satoner; Fb., 
sautoner) " etc. Y. and S. have an amplified form of the St. Pat- 
rick; but all the other Yignay versions are translated from the 
Latin, and certain points in the English MSS. point to a possible 
use of these versions, while others prove independent use of the 



72 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 

Latin. The Latin (p. 213) : " ligna et coria illius regionis contraria, 
ut dicitur^f sunt veneno/' is rendered (Yr. 90 ; Vf. 83 ; Va. 77) : 
*' les fus & les cuirs de cele contree sont contraires a venim," = E. 
fol. 69 : " the trees and the lether of that centre bene holsom ageust 
venym" — in H. f. 54b., ^' the lepres/' in h. f. 94, "the teeres and 
the leprs," in i^ . f. 96, " the teeres & the lepour.^' E. is the only 
one that is correct here, and might, of course, have come as well 
from the French as from the Latin. A little further on, the French 
MSS. have mistranslated the Latin invocation (p. 214): '^Jesu Christe 
jili Dei vivi miserere mihi peccatori/^ = *^ Jhucrist filz de dauid [sic 
omnes) aies pitie de moi pechieur"; but the Eng. mss. have not 
translated the Latin, which they all quote. In every instance the 
French translates (the error dauid occurring only once ; elsewhere, 
de dieu vif)y while the English preserves the Latin. The French 
renders dominus noster Beelzahuh (p. 215) by, "belzebus nostre 
seigneur," and the English, "belsabub oure maister.'' And to 
these one might add a number of similar small points ; but we 
shall note only a few of the more significant. In the Holy Cross, 
as generally, the French renders liystoria scholastica (Lat. p. 304) 
by "lystoire escoliere '^ (Vr. f. 126), while the English has "maistre 
of stories." The Latin (p. 304) : " crux Christi ex quatuor generibus 
lignorum fuisse perhihetury scilicet palmae, cypressi, olivae, et cedri, 
Unde versus : Ligna crucis palma, cedrus, cypressus^ oliva,^^ is ren- 
dered fully and with fair accuracy in the Eng. ; but the French 
has: "de pal me, de cypres, de cedre, et de lihenj'^ and omits the 
unde versus, QiQ. Yet, just above, the English: "and men seyen 
that the menynge (sic, for meuynge) of the watir ne the curacion 
of sike peple was not onli done for that the Aungel come downe 
but bi the vertu of that Tree," is not so near the Latin as it is to 
the French : " Et dit len que le mouement de cele eaue ne la cura- 
cion des malades nestoit pas faite tant seulement pour ce que langre 
(sic) y estoit, mes par la vertu de cell fust." Finally, the Eng. 

MSS. translate the Latin (p. 305) : Quo signo crucis non 

profanai'e, while the French omit it. 

The evidence is manifestly conflicting; it was my purpose to 
present something from both sides, so that no one could be misled 
into thinking that everything clearly pointed to the Latin rather 
than to the French as our original. But despite the confusing 



Legenda Aurea — Ltgende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 73 

nature of the evidence, I have no doubt that the English MSS. were 
translated from the Latin. 

When we undertake to determine the inter-relations of the five 
English MSS. we encounter problems quite as difficult of solution. 
One piece of evidence alone will suffice to show, I believe, that all 
of the MSS. are but copies. In the legend of 8t, Germayne the 
anecdote of the cowherd who became king of Britain is thus botched 
by all the MSS.^: "And thanne the kingges cowherde hadde ledde 
his bestes to pasture, so as the saxenes faught ayenst the Bretones/' 
etc. The confusion is due to the omission of a dozen or so lines 
of the story ; . and the fact that it is common to all the Eng. MSS. 
proves my point, without the aid of further evidence that could be 
presented. 

Another point of which I am positive, and this in the face of 
Dr. Horstmann's statement to the contrary, is that D, is not, in text, 
^^ very close to E.," but an almost exact duplicate of H. I collated 
a number of legends, and found not only very few verbal changes, 
but scarcely any orthographic changes in D. and H., with this 
exception, that D. uses almost uniformly the "]?" for "th," and 
frequently "5,'' spirant, both of which are sparingly used in H. 
Here are a few of the results of my comparison : In the bit quoted 
from the H. Barlaam {P^^ogr. p. 17), we find D. fol. 152 agreeing 
exactly, except for the use of ]; and 5, even to the error of " alle 
ludee'^ which drew an (!) from the editor. In Adam and Eve, D. 
fol. 157, and H. fol. 258 b., both omit the bracketed words, which 
are essential to the sense : " whan Adam was made and [had nat] 
youeii hyra a name," etc. And just below, both omit the bracketed 
[A] in the versus : " Annotale dedit A., Disis D. contulit, Arthos 
[A.], M. Memsembrion, collige(t), fiet Adam." In the Pharao, 
also, D. fol. 162, and H. fol. 264, have the common error : "here- 
bi he trustith sikirlie she to bringe hem ayen to synne deppere than 
thei were." Finally, in St. Matthew, D. fol. 26 b., and H. fol. 46, 
have: "And as seynt Jerom seyth, hit sytteth not us by this en- 
sample to use lottis or — (sic), for the pryuelege of fewe," etc. ; 
the missing word which the copyist could not decipher and so left 

^E. fol. 175 b.; A. fol. 145 b.; H. fol. 133 b.; D. fol. 82 b.; and h. fol. 221 ; with 
which cf. Lat. p. 450 ; Vr. fol. 188 ; V. fol. 208, and Caxton, K. P., pp. 508 and 668. 
Italics mine. 



74 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 

out is, according to h. fol. 80 b., sortes. This last error in particular 
would seem to support Douce's suggestion that D. and H. were 
written ^ at the same place, and perhaps by the same scribe.' As 
the H. MS. seems to have been left uncompleted — note the blank 
ruled folio mentioned above as coming after the unfinished Pharao, 
and the absence of the colophon — while D. is as manifestly finished 
— witness the complete Pharao and the colophon — I should say 
H. was copied from D. The community in peculiar errors seems 
to me too great to admit of the possibility of their both being 
copied, independently, from a common original. 

Another error, which elicited another unjustified. (!) from Dr. 
Horstmann,^ enables us to group together D., H., and h., as against 
E. and A. In H. the index enters cap. 88 as " St. Calixte ; " and 
so reads the chapter heading on fol. 118 (kalixt), and the colophon ; 
but in the body of the text he is called Alex, or Alix. D., fol. 
72 b., agrees exactly, of course. In h. the first table gives it wrong, 
but the second has Allexus; and the chapter heading (fol. 196) and 
colophon have been corrected by erasing the ^'C.,'' and marginal 
notes call attention to the error, which places h. with D. and H. 
But in E. and A. we find the name wrong not only in the title and 
colophon but throughout the text : Kalixte, Calyxty Calex, etc.^ 
always with "C' or "K." There are other similar indications 
connecting E. and A, ; but, to show how little we can rely on such 
evidence, on fol. 148 b., in the Assumpoion, A. has : ^' Seint Jerom 
ne affermeth " (= Lat. p. 511 Augustinus .... non solum . . , 
offirmat), where E., fol. 193, has: "Seint Austine.^' We cannot, 
indeed, be sure that any of the MSS. except D. and H. are closely 
related. Instances will appear in the variant readings to the texts 
below in which first one and then the other gives the only correct 
reading ; to note but one here, there is the case cited above in which 
all but E. have, in 8L Patrick, leper instead of leather. In many 
cases D. and H. stand together as against the others; and it is 
quite the most probable supposition, that they are later than the 
others. In many cases E. and the corrected h. agree, so that it is 
quite possible that h. was copied from, or collated with E. ; there 
is nothing that renders this impossible, though the colophon at the 

^ See his table of H., in Program. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Doric — Golden Legend. 75 

€nd of h. makes it improbable, as it does Dot seem likely that an 
incomplete copy would have assumed the colophon of its completed 
original. We must remember that in prose slight changes are far 
easier to make than in verse, and that where the scribe in copying 
verse would be restrained from obtruding emendations by respect for 
the form, no such restraint would hamper him here. And corrup- 
tions and emendations are reasonably numerous in these MSS., none 
of which can be shown to be the original. It is, therefore, rather 
on account of the special feature of the incorporated English and 
other legends that I assume for Add. MS. 11,565 a priority over 
the others. For us it is certainly the most important, for here 
alone are preserved some, not all, of the English legends which 
Caxton added to his Golden Legend} i 

Caxton. 

jB. Caxton, as we shall see later, " adapted '' the elaborate pro- 
logue which Jean de Vignay had prefixed to his Legende dorie, 
but he added another short prologue of his own. In this he says 
(Blades, i, 167 and ii, 153) : '^Against me here might some jifersons 
say that this Legend hath been translated tofore, and truthmt is ; 
but forasmuch as I had by me a Legend in French, anotMf in 
Latin, and the third in English, which varied in many and owers^ 
places ; and also many histories were comprised in the two other o^oks 
which were not in the English booh ; ^ therefore I have written one 
out of the said three books." Notwithstanding this candid admis- j/ 
sion the English book from which Caxton ^^ cribbed^' remaine^'' 
long unidentified. Warton says (i, p. 294) : "I have observed tl^it 
Caxton's Golden Legende is taken from Voragine. This perhaps 
is not precisely true. Caxton informs us in his first preface to the 
first edition of 1483, that he had in his possession a Legend in 

^ The Life of Christ, Bonaventure's Speculum Vilae Christi, with which this MS. 
begins, was also printed by Caxton in 1487 (?) and 1488 (?). I have refrained 
from claiming that the Eng. in MS. A. was also used by Caxton here, since the two 
have not been compared. Blades (ii, 196) does not mention this ms. ; he gives 
MS. Add. 19,901 (early 15th century) as containing " Caxton's text." But the 
coincidence seems strange, even if not significant. 

* I underscore. 



76 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

French, another in Latin, and a third in English .... Caxton's 
English original might have been the old metrical Lives of the 
Saints.^^ ^ This is not a bad guess. Dunlop (ii, 254) goes wildly 
astray on the question. The MS. note by Douce himself shows 
that he had looked into the matter, if not very deeply. And the 
Catalogues of the Harleian, Egerton, and Additional Mss., though 
noting that the mss. in question contain a version of the Legenda, 
do not go out of their way to show that this was Caxton's English 
book. 

The first to notice the earlier prose version was Blades {Life of 
Caxton, Lond., 1861-63). He describes two of the mss. thus (ii, 
152) : ^^Harl. 630, English (saec. xv), an anonymous translation, 
with the following colophon : ^ Here endeth the Boke of the life 
of Seyntes called in latyn legenda aurea compiled and drawen into 
englyssh bi worthi clerkes and doctous of Diuinite suengly aftre 
ye tenir of ye latin.' — Harl. 4775, English (saec. xv), the same 
version as Harl. 630, but imperfect at the end.'' 

" It is probable," he continues, " that in Caxton's time the Eng- 
lish version here noticed was well known ; indeed, we may infer 
this from the account given by our printer of the origin of his own 
text" — and here he quotes, as above, from Caxton's prologue. — 
" Caxton, with his Latin, French, and English copies before him, 
found a prologue ready to his hand in the version by Jehan de 
Vignay, this, as was his wont, he translated literally, merely 
changing two or three inapplicable proper names, and adding 
some personal observations. The bulk of his text comes also from 
the same source, being nearly identical with that of the English MS. 
already noticed/^ ^ etc. 

The next to notice our mss. was a Mr. Ranking, in a book of 
legends called Streams from Hidden Sources (London, 1872). He 
gives a short notice of Voragine and of the French versions (p. 
6Q f.), and speaks of the translation by Caxton. "A similar work 
in the vernacular was already in existence, as he himself testifies. 
.... What this early English work was it is now impossible to 
say with any certainty ; but it may not impossibly have been that 
which exists among the Harleian mss., and which is attributed to 
the beginning of the fifteenth century." 

^See also Petrie, Monumenta Brit. (1868), p. 5, and note 3. 'My italics. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend. 77 

But Dr. HorstmaDD is the only one who has attempted to study 
the relations between Caxton and the mss., in the works previously 
cited. Aspland, in the Holbein Soc. reprint of the Golden Legend 
(London, 1878, p. 35), depends entirely on Blades, but makes the 
important addition of the Bible to the authorities to be considered 
in discussing Caxton's sources. Dr. Horstmann in one place goes 
so far in his claims for the re-discovered MSS. as to state that they 
were " printed by Caxton ; " but in his soberer mood he modifies 
this. Caxton's edition, he says, " rests on this translation, but is 
distinguished from it by many particulars. ... As to the text, 
he (Caxton) does not follow the older translation word for word^ 
but sentence for sentence, frequently abridging." And he now 
admits the numerous changes by Caxton and additions, from the 
appendix of the Legenda, and from " the two French translations of 
the L. A.y^ ^ while " for the English saints he used native sources, 
apparently the Southern Legendary " — which Dr. Horstmann hap- 
pens to have edited. 

A complete reaction from this view is represented in the editor 
of the Kelmscott Golden Legend (1892), Mr. F. S. Ellis. He 
claims to have discovered the very book in French from which 
Caxton took nearly the whole of his work, errors and all ; this is 
the printed Vignay in the British Museum. But, unfortunately, 
Mr. Ellis did not know of the Stowe mss., and certainly had never 
examined the English mss. whose influence he declares to be niL 
The text of ms. A. will speak for itself when compared with Caxton, 
and we shall show later how many things not found in V. (or S.) 
Caxton added. 

It would be out of our province to discuss the mere bibliograph- 
ical points in connection with Caxton's Golden Legende, for which 
I refer to Blades and Aspland. 

The first edition of the Golden Legende was a tremendous under- 
taking for Caxton. Blades says (ii, lix) : " The ^ magnum opus ' of 
Caxton was undoubtedly the edition of ^ The Golden Legend,' 1483. 
The translation alone of this great work must have been no slight 
task, while, as to number of leaves (449), and size both of paper 
and printed page, it far exceeded his edition of 'King Arthur,^ 

^ As if C. had used both Belet and Vignay ; italics mine. Alteng. Leg.^ N. F., 
cxxxii f. 



78 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 

which was the next largest " (for the size of the paper, see ib.j p. 
xvii). (n, p. 151) "Woodcuts are used throughout, apparently 
from the hand of the same Artist who engraved the cuts for the 2nd 
edition of the ' Chess-Book ^ . . . . (ib. LVi). The largest wood- 
cut known to have been used in Caxton's books is the Assembly of 
Saints, at the beginning of all the editions of the ^ Golden Legend ' ^' 
(this cut is given by Blades, and by Aspland). 

Nothing could give a better idea of Caxton's own appreciation 
of the difficulties of his task than a quotation of his own words. 
In his second prologue he gives us this charmingly quaint history 
of his work, and gratefully tells how his Chesterfield did not desert 
him in his hour of need (Blades, i, p. 167) : "J.Nd for as moche as 
this sayd werke was grete & over chargeable to me taccomplisshe 
I feryd me in the begynnyng of the translacyon to have contynued 
it /by cause of the louge tyme of the translacyon /& also in then- 
pryntyng of ye same & . . . . was in purpose to have lefte it/ ... . 
ne had it be at thynstaunce & requeste of the puyssant noble & 
vertuous erle my lord wyllyam erle of arondel/which desyred me 
to procede & contynue the said werke/& promysed me to take a 
resonable quatyte of them when they were achyeued & accom- 
plisshed/and sente to me a worshypful gentylman a seruaunte of 
his named Johan Stanney, whych solycyted me in my Lordes name 
that I shold in no wyse leue it but accomplisshe it, promysing that 
my sayd lord shold duryng my lyf yeue & graunte to me a yerely 
fee/that is to wete a bucke in sommer/& a doo in wynter ^Y .... 

And having persevered in his task and finished it, he joyfully 
adds this epilogue, which, like the first prologue, is adapted from 
Jean de Vignay : " Thus endeth the legende named in latyn legenda 
aurea, that is to say in englysshe the golden legende. For lyke as 
gold passeth in valewe alle other metalles so thys legende excedeth 
alle other bookes : wherin ben conteyned all the hygh & grete 
festys of our lord, the festys of our blessed lady, the lyues passyons 
& myracles of many other sayntes, & other hystoryes & actes, as al 
allonge here afore is made mencyon. Whiche werke I have accom- 
plisshed at the commaundemente & requeste of the noble & puys- 
saunte erle & my special good lord Wyllyam erle of arondel, & 
have fynysshed it at westmestre the twenty day of nouembre the 
yere of our lord mcccclxxxiii, & the fyrst yere of the reygne of 
Kyng Rychard the thyrd — By me Wyllyam Caxton." 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 79 

Caxton himself, we see, alludes not only to the greatness of the 
task but also to the " longe tyme of the translacion." Some hint 
of the length of time he devoted to the composition of the work 
may be gathered from his allusion in the " Proheme '^ of his edition 
o£ the Polychronicon, 1482 (Blades, I, 193, and 265): "Thenne 
syth historic is so precious & also prouffytable I haue delybered to 
wryte twoo bookes notable/retenyng in them many noble historyes/ 
as the lyues/myracles/passyons and deth of dyuerse hooly sayntes 
whiche shall be comprysed by thayde and suffraunce of almyghty 
god in one of them/whiche is named legenda aurea/that is the 
golden legende/ And that other book is named polycronicon/ .... 
after the coraposynge & gaderynge of dan Ranulp monke of chestre 
fyrste auctour of this book/and afterward englisshed by one Treuisa 
vycarye of barkley/ .... And now at this tyme symply em- 
prynted ... by me William Caxton and a lytel embelysshed fro 
tholde makyng/J' 

These last words are of special significance for us. The editor 
of Higden^s Polychronicon in the Rolls Series (1865), comments on 
them and on the later added sentence : ^ " and somwhat (I) haue 
chaunged the rude and old englyssh, that is to wete certayn wordes 
which in these dayes be neither vsyd ne vnderstanden." His changes, 
says the editor (p. lxiii of Introd.), are so great that '* a minute 
collation of (his) text .... with that of the MSS. used for the 
present edition is well-nigh impossible." A list of words in Tre- 
visa's text which Caxton apparently considered too archaic for his 
use is given : " But besides these noteworthy (verbal) changes by 
Caxton there are likewise many others where a clause or even the 
greater part of a sentence has been re-cast more in accordance, it 
must be presumed, with the phraseology of his own day." Blades, 
too (ii, p. 125), gives a sample of Caxton's "embellishments" of 
the Polychronicon J which, he says, " chiefly consist in modernising 
the old English ; although here and there Caxton added sentences 
to the text." Indeed, as a writer in the Christian Remembrancer 
says (quoted in Polycron.^ R. S. ed.), " Caxton exercised the part 
of editor of his various publications," and edited them with the 
greatest freedom. Many instances might, no doubt, be cited, in- 

*In his Epilogue to lib. vii, Blades, ii, 195; italics above mine, as always unless 
otherwise specified. 



80 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

eluding his Chaucer and King Arthur, though he does profess to 
follow his MS. here as closely as might be. Blades calls attention 
to such traces of added sentences, added without any indication that 
they were not in the text, in the Game of the Chess, Bk. ill, 3^ 
Bk. IV, 1, and in the Dictes of the Philosophers (an acknowledged 
addition), see Blades I, 136, and 144.^ 

Here we must digress a moment to note that the Golden Legend 
was not the only work of the kind published by Caxton. On "the 
laste day of Juyn Anno domini M. cccc. Lxxx iii " he had finished 
printing the Liber Festivalis, or Festial of John Mirkus, which the 
latter says he has " drawe .... owt of legenda aurea, w* more 
addyng to." How much Caxton altered this in editing it I do not 
know. It is certain that, as it now stands, even the saints it has 
in common with our Legenda (there are few additions) are generally 
treated very freely, so that it cannot be considered a translation. 
Those that seemed most like the Legenda were Sis. John and George. 
On the whole, cf. Blades, ii, p. 134. There is much legendary 
matter, too, in Caxton's Chronicles of England, 1480. We find 
SL Austyn, Ursula, Edmond the King, Edward the Confessor, etc. ; 
but after carefully comparing these with Caxton's Golden Legend 
I cannot find any certain cases of borrowing, except, perhaps, in 
the case of St. Austyn, to which we shall refer again. In the 
Mirrour of the World, 1480, there are some extraordinary tales, and 
passages remind us of the above mentioned legend of 8t. Michael; 
but this is not in any sense a legendary. But the great Polycroni- 
con is chokefull of legendary matter, on which Caxton did not 
hesitate to draw. 

We see, then, that Caxton had opportunities for becoming famil- 
iar with the legends of the saints, and need not be surprised when 
we find him making a thoroughly new and, to his notion, accurate 
Golden Legend out of the materials at hand. The most distinctive 
feature about Caxton's Golden Legend is the addition of so large a 
number of " Bible stories," including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lsaac, 
Jacob, Esau, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, 
Rehoboam, Job, Tobit, and Judith. He divides them into fourteen 
chapters ; a fifteenth, containing the Ten Commandments, is really 
part of Moses, and only in small part based on de Vignay's (ms. 

^See, too, Miss Smith's Brome Commonplace Book, p. 12, n. 



Legenda Aurea — LP.gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 81 

S. and V.) Dix Commandements ; the whole series extends from 
p. 105 to p. 244 of the Kelmscott edition. And these considerable 
additions furnish most interesting examples of Caxton^s methods. 
Indeed, as Aspland says (p. 35 fol.), this portion of Caxton's Golden 
Legend is little more than a disguised version of the Bible. He 
dared not publish the Bible as such, for that would smell of Wyc- 
liff and rank Lollardy, and Caxton had no ambition to stir up the 
powers that were in Church or State ; but he evaded the vigilance 
of the laws by inserting Bible stories in his Golden Legend. Indeed, 
" the Golden Legend of Caxton was included in the list of Bibles 
at the Caxton celebration (1877), ^because,' says Mr. Henry Stevens, 
who had charge of that department, ^ it contains a translation into 
English of nearly the whole of the Pentateuch, and a great part of 
the Gospels.' ... It was, no doubt, read in churches, and though 
the text is mixed with much priestly gloss and dross, it neverthe- 
less contains, in almost a literal translation, a great portion of the 
Bible ; and it became thus one of the principal instruments in pre- 
paring the way for the Reformation. . . . The modifications and 
changes of the text and form of the Golden Legend is a theme 
worthy the bibliographer.^' 

We should go very far astray, however, in assuming that Caxton 
depended on the canon for his Bible tales. In the very first one, 
Adam, we find him, on the second page (Kelmscott, 106), already 
weaving in with his story threads not from Genesis, incidents such 
as are found in the numerous Lives of Adam j of which we get a 
sample in our mss., in Douce MS. 15, in Rawlinson MS. C. 499, in 
MS. Queens Col. Ox. 213 (see Horstmann, in Herrig's Archiv.y vol. 
79, pp. 459, 465, 499).^ And this is not all ; for it looks very 
much as if Caxton had used again the material found in his Poly- 
cronicon. We cannot here adduce the parallels in full : they are 
easily verified, and I shall merely ask those that doubt to compare 

^ A writer in Book Lore, iii, (1888), p. 65, comments on Caxton's "they toke 
figge leuis and sewed them togyder .... in maner of brechis," which, he says, 

"shows that the Genevan version is not the originator of this quaint 

phrase." One will find the " breeches" in Harl. 4775, f. 259 ; Douce 372, f. 157 b. ; 
Douce 15, f. 18 b., etc. Cf. the Historia Schotastica, i, cap. 23 (Migne, Patrol. Lat. 
198, col. 1073): " Tuncfecerunt sibi perizomata {Gen. Ill), id est succindoria, quasi 
bracas breves, ut campestria." For Lamech, cf. ibid., col. 1079. 

6 



82 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

the latter portions of Caxton's Adam with Polychronicon, Bk. ii, 
cap. 5 (in E,. S. ed., vol. ii, pp. 225 f.). A striking instance here 
is the story of Lamech (ibid. p. 229) ; and another, in which Caxton 
introduces greater changes, is in the chronology he gives for Crea- 
tion and the Flood, cf. Polyc, p. 237 ; and Caxton's brief note 
regarding Nemhroth (= Nimrod) seems based on Polycr., p. 249-51. 
Thus throughout Adam and Noah we find non-Biblical notes, many 
of which could most easily have come from the Polycronicon. In 
Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph, he seems to have contented himself 
with a rather free paraphrase of the Bible ; at least I have not, in 
a cursory examination, discovered anything essentially apochryphal. 
But we must be ever on the alert for a return to such sources. For 
in Moses, for example, before we get through two pages we find two 
references to Josephus, with stories about the infant prophet which 
might again come from the Polycronicon (cf. p. 319 f.). And a 
capital example of his method must be noted in David {Gold. Leg., 
K. P., p. 206) : " Dauid dide grete penaunce for thyse synnes of 
aduoultrye and also of homycyde. For as I ones was by yonde the 
see rydyng in the companye of a noble knyght named Syr Johan 
Capons, and was also doctour in bothe lawes, and was born in mal- 
yorke, .... and that tyme Counceyllour vnto the due of bour- 
gonye, Charloys, it happend we comened of the hystorye of Dauid, 
and this said noble man told me that he had redde that dauid dyde 
this penaunce folowyng for thyse said synnes .... (J omit the 
anecdote). Thus thys noble man told me, rydyng bytwene the toun 
of Gaunt in Flaundres & the toun of Bruxellis in Braband." 
Similarly, in Solomon, at the end (p. 217) : " It is said, but I fynde 
it not in the byble, that Salamon repentyd hym moche of thys synne 
of ydolatrye,^^ etc. 

But what has been cited is surely sufficient proof. There are 
apocryphal elements in Samuel, in Job, etc., and both Ihbit and 
Judith are, of course, based on Apocrypha, being also very little 
abridged. 

Returning to the Legenda proper, we find Caxton not only adapt- 
ing the prologue, but conforming to the general plan of MS. S. (and 
v.). A detailed comparison of the mere order would only waste 
time. Caxton agrees with the French in the order and content 
of his first 14 chapters. After this we find not only changes of 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorte — Golden Legend. 83 

order but insertions of new material ; so heedless is he of what Mr. 
Ellis (K. P. Gold. Leg., p. 1203) is pleased to consider his original 
that he makes the History e of the Masse, and the Twelve Articles the 
Jast instead of among the first in his book. 

In addition to the Bible stories we find the following 20 legends 
in Caxton which are not in his legitimate Latin or French texts : 
(1) Cuthhert; (2) Alphey; (3) Dunston: (4) Aldhelme; (5) Austyn in 
England; (6) Edward kyng; (7) Alhon; (8) Swythyn; (9) Transla- 
tion of Becket; (10) Kenelme ; {11) Roche; (IT) Edward Confessor; 
(13) Wenefrede; (14) Edmond Bishop; (15) Edmond hyng ; (16) 
Hugh; (17) Dorathe; (IS) Bede; {19)Brandan; (20) Erkenwolde, 
These are merely such additional legends as the titles alone would 
indicate as new ; others are practically new, as we shall indicate. 
It would be too tedious a story to discuss the sources of all these 
legends, for we could not be absolutely sure of our judgment with- 
out rather minute comparisons between Caxton and the numerous 
preceding legendaries. I have positive evidence that for Nos. 1, 
3, 4, S, 10, and 19, he used the English version of MS. A. After 
a close comparison, I believe he used also the St. Albon found in 
that MS. and others. And certain points to be mentioned make it 
almost certain that ]^o. 5 came also from A., the portions of the 
MS. containing it being now lost. His life of Becket is certainly 
indebted to the version in A., and Ifherefore we may guess that No. 
9 also was drawn thence. So much for the additions for which we 
are perfectly safe in claiming the English MSS. as sources. Here is 
the evidence for believing that Caxton's first chapter on St. Austyn 
(that brought crystendom into Englond, K. P. p. 499) was derived 
from a lost chapter in A. 

Caxton's first chapter on St. Austyn is quite distinct from the 
Legenda, p. 548. It occurs just after Dunston and Aldelme, which 
are both from Add. MS., where there is an unfortunate gap of eight 
leaves just before the Dunston. Caxton, at the close of his legend, 
says (p. 505) : ^'And god hath shewed so many myracles in that 
holy place for his blessyd saynt, saynt Austyn, that yf I shold al 
wryte them here it shold ocupye a grete book.^' The second chapter 
on Austyn (p. 778) is a translation of the Legenda, as it is also in 
all MSS., but neither in Caxton nor in the English MSS. is it a com- 
plete translation. All end with the miracle at the top of Leg, p. 



84 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 



563 ; whereas the French versions (cf. Y. fol. 252 b., Yr. fol. 234) 
are complete, end just as in the Latin, and omit the words to be 
noted below. All the Eng. versions end with these words, with 
which I parallel Caxton's statement on p. 791 (cf. A. fol. CLXV ; 
E. fol. 211 ; H. fol. 157; D. fol. 103; h. fol. 265; cited from A., 
with small unnoted emendations) : 



CAXTON. 

Many other myracles hath god 
shewed by his lyf & also after his deth 
whiche were ouer longe to wryte in 
this booke, for they wold I suppose 
conteyne a book as moche as al this & 
more, but amonge other correction I wylle 
sette here in one myracle whiche I 
haue sene paynted on an aulter of saynt 
Austyn at the blacke Freres at And- 
werpe, how be it I fynde hit not in the 
legende myn exampler, neyther in Eng- 
lysshe, Frensshe, ne in latyn. 



MSS. 

Many a noble and glorious miracle* 
this holy seint dide by the goodenes of 
oure lorde, yn his lyf and after his 
dethe, whiche were to long to be wrettyn 
yn this littyl volome, for hit conteyn- 
eth more than alle this boke; where- 
fore I leue att this tyme, and recomaunde 
us to his preyers that for the loue of 
god was of so gret perfection that h& 
dispised alle riches lordschipes and re- 
fusid alle worschipes . he drede delites^ 
and that schulde they clerly fynde that 
list to rede his deuoute writtynges. 



Caxton's new miracle, which he did not find in any of his origi- 
nals — note the order in which they are named — does not concern 
us here ; but we may note that, as in the case of the David^ hi& 
words indicate his method of composition. The similarity, or even 
identity, of the expressions in this note in Caxton and the MSS. (it 
occurs in neither Yignay nor Belet French) is so marked that I 
need not comment on it. And the MSS. words, I leue att this tyme^ 
certainly bear out my suggestion that the English MS. version once 
contained a second Austyn, from which Caxton borrowed with the 
freedom peculiar to him when the MSS. were his sole authority. I 
therefore feel justified in claiming that in both of his chapters on 
Austyn Caxton is indebted to the MSS. 

Caxton has two chapters on St. Germayne (pp. 505-510, and 
665-669) ; these are, so far as the story goes, duplicates. It is^ 
therefore, only on circumstantial evidence obtained by minute com- 
parison that I have determined that in the first Germayne Caxton 
used the MSS., though probably correcting as usual, while in the 
second he used the French. One point will serve to indicate the 
nature of the evidence. The Lat. (p. 448) arborem quandam pinum 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 85 

iyi media civitate habehat, is rendered in the MSS., *^ he had a peyne 
<ippell in the myddys of the Cite " (cf. A. fol. 145 b. ; E. fol. 175 b. ; 
H. fol. 133; and h. fol. 219b.). Caxton has first (p. 506), "a 
tree callyd a pynapple tree/^ but later (p. 665), " a tre whiche was a 
pyn ; ^' with which cf. Vignay (Y. fol. 207, practically same in Yr. 
fol. 188), "il auoit ou millieu de la cite ung arbre qm estoit ung 
pin." 

Certain words in the portion from the Donston, to be given below, 
when coupled with Caxton's omission of some details there given 
and his explanation of the omission (p. 497, " as ye shal fynde 
more playnly of thys matere in the lyf of saynt Oswolde "), lead 
me to conclude not only that the MSS. once had a life St. Oswoldey 
but that Caxton had planned to include this too in his additions. 

We have one more legend to name for which Caxton, departing 
from his Latin and French, drew on the Eng. MSS. This is the St, 
Katheryne, the opening words of which as given above (p. 70) may 
be compared with Caxton, p. 1097. And this closes the list of legends 
for which we have more or less positive evidence that Caxton used 
the MSS. The field of conjecture, in view of the incomplete condi- 
tion of the MSS., and of MS. A. in particular, is not, however, alto- 
gether forbidden ground to us. I believe the remaining English 
saints also came from our MSS. These are all of those mentioned 
above except No. 11, Booke, and No. 17, Dorathe. The latter is 
one of the saints in the additions to the Legenda (p. 910), and 
Caxton's version seems to derive thence. The former is also in the 
Legenda (p. 933) ; but Caxton's version manifestly does not come 
from this much compressed form ; at the end of it he states (p. 
766) : ^* The fest of saynt Rock is ... . translated oute of latyn 
in to Englysshe by me William Caxton." What Latin original 
he used I have not yet been able to discover. The note is inter- 
esting to us as it stands, however, even without tracing his original. 
No. 18, Bede, is not at all the same as the life given as an episode 
in Leg. p. 833, though some of the incidents are the same. 

Capgrave's Nova Legenda Anglie has been rather confidently 
assumed as the source of some of Caxton\s English saints. I am 
not in a position to assert positively that he does not use this, as I 
have not yet been able to compare most of the legends. But with 
one legend I have made a careful comparison. St. Erhenwolde 



86 Legenda Aurea — Legends Dorie — Golden Legend. 

(Apr. 29fch) will be found in the Bollandist Ada Sandorumj voL 
XII, 789-96, Capgrave's version being given. It is far longer thao 
Caxton^s version, and there are some differences in order ; and there 
is nothing in Caxton which might not have come from it, if we 
except the opening paragraph. There Erkenwolde's sister is called 
alhurgh, which after hir baptesme was named ethelburga. The Latin 
has no such name, having simply: Ethelburga .... soror ejus; 
.... imposito sibi nomine Ethelburga^ ut lamquam rosa de rhamnis, 
jidelis defidelibus, eleda virgo procederet, odor em sanditatis posteris 
allatura. So that, whether Caxton used Capgrave or not, he cer- 
tainly Qiade additions from some other source (cf. Alteng. Leg.^ N. 
F., p. 627-8). 

Caxton's Winifred, again, does not base on what would seem the 
most natural source, John Mirkus's Eestial, but probably on a Latin 
original (as does his later and fuller life of her, 1484-5), unless 
we claim this also for the Eng. mss. (see Blades, ii, 175 ; better in 
ed. 1882, p. 303; and Alteng. Leg., N. F., cxi; Anglia iii, pp. 
293f. and314f.). 

If we are to suppose a use of Capgrave's Latin for these un-traced 
English legends, we must never lose sight of Caxton's tendency to 
revert to the Polychronicon and other extraneous sources. Many 
parts of Edward Confessor might most naturally derive from Poly- 
chronicon. And if Caxton did translate from Capgrave, it is curi- 
ous that there is no mention of his name in all these legends, and 
no statement such as that in St. Rocke. For in the one legend 
wherein Caxton, departing from the Legenda, does depend largely 
on a well-known authority, he gives a reference. 

In the second paragraph of his St. Patrick Caxton refers to 
" Chester,^' " polycronicon, the fourth booke, the xxix chapytre,"^ 
where we find : " seynt patrik in this time was born, his fader 
bete calprun, whiche was a preest and a dekens sone that heyte 
fodun. patrikes moder hete conches, martyns suster of gallia, that 
is fraunce. In his crystenyng he was called sucat. And seint 
german called hym magonius. And celestinus the pope callyd hym 
Patryk, that is to saye, fader of cyteseyns." Much more might be 
added (see Polycron. i, cap. 34 ; v., caps. 4 and 23) ; in fact all the 

* The K. P. ed. misprints^ xxiv chapytre; but C.'s first ed. has it right, fol. 145. I 
quote from C.'s ed.; cf. R. S. v, 187. 



Legenda Aurea — Legende Doree — Golden Legend. 87 

latter portions of Caxton^s Patrick are derived from it, the parallels 
being sometimes almost verbal, and considerably closer in Caxton's 
ed. than in the R. S. text of the Polychronicon. 

As hinted in the notes on D. MS. (p. 57), Caxton adds a paragraph, 
probably of his own knowledge, to the St. George, alluding to the 
Order of the Garter, etc. And Professor Kolbing believes that 
Caxton's Caecilia has reminiscences of Chaucer : "At the time of 
the publication of the Golden Legend, 1483, Caxton had not only 
read Chaucer's Caecilia legend, but was so thoroughly familiar with 
it that in many places the very words of the master flowed quite 
unconsciously from his pen."^ It is most unfortunate that I did 
not make a close comparison of C.'s text with that of the MSS. ; 
hence I am unable to say how far these statements ought to be 
modified. 

For five of his legends Caxton depended on the Latin, rather 
than on his English or French sources. These are : Gordian (Lat. 
p. 337) ; Pernelle (343) ; Quiryne {■= Quiricus, 351) ; Maryne 
(353) ; and Theodora (397). The first of these is far longer in S. 
(or v.). The second as given in S. (or Y.) deals really with Felicula, 
and is not at all like Caxton, or the Latin, or the Eng. mss. ; both 
Gordian and Pernelle are properly given in older Vignay texts 
{e.g. Va.yfol. 124 6., andfol. 123 6.), but I have reason for feeling 
sure that Caxton used the Latin. S. (or V.) omits Quiryne, 
Maryne, and Theodora, which are also found in other Vignay texts, 
and in the Eng. mss. ; but I am again, reluctantly, led to admit 
that Caxton preferred the Latin, though doubtless referring to the 
previous Eng. version. 

Nothing, perhaps, could better show Caxton's careful work in 
the endeavor to write " one (book) out of the said three books '' 
than his treatment of Voragine's etymologies. 

Chapter IV. The Etymologies. 

Those " etymologias perversissimas, quibus maxime claudicat Ja- 
cobus noster '' are spoken of in Echard's sketch (loc. cit.) as if origi- 
nated by Voragine : " Praefaiiones cuilibet vitae a Jacobo additae, 

* Englische Studien, i, 247 ; Caxton's and Vignay's text publ. by Chaucer «Sbc., 
ed. Furnivall, 1875, 2nd series, No. 10, p. 207 ; cf. Lounsbury, Chaucer Studies^ 
1892, II, p. 321. 



88 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

quae fere in nomine sancti lusus simt, palato hujus seculi saniori non 
placentj sed is erat seculi XIII et sequentium gustus/' etc. Long 
before Echard's time had the etymologies been criticised. They 
are collected, merely as linguistic curiosities, in a Calendarium 
Etymologicum ex Lombardica Historia Jaoobi de Voragine, in Schell- 
horn's Amoenitates Literariae, vol. xi, 324 f. (Frankfort and Leip- 
zig, 1725 f., and 1730 f.), where we are told that ^^ debetur hoc (sc. 
calenda7'ium) Evasmo Schmidio, Viro de Graecis praesertim Uteris 
jpraedare merito, qui id typis excudendum curavit Wittebergae 1 604." ^ 
This very curious little volume — I have never seen the one on 
which it professes to be based — gives merely the etymologies, in 
their order, without comment or elucidation. Jacobus, of course, 
was neither the first nor the last to indulge in such etymologies : I 
need scarcely refer to the well knowm work of Isidorus Hispalensis 
(see Migne, Patrol. Lat, vols. 82 and 83 ; see also, Etymologiarum 
Libri XX, ed. Otto, Leipzig, 1833). But I have not yet discov- 
ered any very close parallels in Isidore, though the principle is the 
same. Certain things in Hugo de St. Victor are even more in 
Voragine's style ; this gem, for example, could hardly be surpassed 
by Jacobus at his best : " Mors dicta, quod sit amara, vel a marte, 
qui effector est mortium, sive a morsu primi hominis, qui vetitae ar- 
boris pomum mordens mortem inGursit'\f (Patrol. Lat. 177, col. 
132). But nowhere have I seen such etymologies as Voragine's 
systematically prefixed to saints' lives. Many of them, like the 
one quoted from St. Victor, are almost too ludicrous to be taken 
seriously, and are not less far-fetched than Swift's burlesques : 
" Pygmalion was a person of very low stature, but great valour, 
which made his townsmen call him Pigmy lion : and so it should 
be spelt," etc. ; and " Isaac is nothing else but Eyes ahe ; because 
the talmudists report that he had a pain in his eyes. Vide Ben 
Gouion and the targum on Genesis." 

It is evident enough where Voragine got the idea of his etymol- 
ogies, as such attempts are common enough in the works to which 
he had recourse, though not as fully developed as in the Legenda, 
But what chiefly concerns us at present is the reappearance of the 
etymologies in the French of Vignay and the English of Caxton. 
Not only do Vignay (I here include all forms of his version) and 

^Schellhorn, too, calls Voragine "ferrei oris & plumbei pectoris Vir." 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 89 

Oaxton give translations of those found in the Latin, but they add 
a goodly number, sometimes to non-Legenda stories, sometimes to 
those which are given in Graesse's text without etymologies. The 
following tables give the additions. In the first table I give all 
those legends which have no etymologies in Graesse's text, but 
which are furnished with them in the Vignay versions. Seven of 
these etymologies are not in Y. (or S.), but are in the Vignay MSS. ; 
I have indicated them. 

I. Legends to which there are French Etymologies. 



Leg. 




Leg. 




177 ., 


.. Juliana. 


601 .. 


. Gorgonien {Mss.). 


202 ., 


,. Longin. 


602.. 


. Prothus. 


213., 


.. Patrick. 


611 .. 


. Chrysostom {Mss.). 


271 ., 


.. Marcellin. 


639 .. 


. Forseus. 


353 ., 


.. Marina {Mss.). 


660.. 


. Leger. 


367 ., 


.. Leo. 


674.. 


. Pelagia. 


397., 


.. Theodora (Mss.). 


676 .. 


. Margaret. 


442 ., 


.. Felix {Mss.). 


677 .. 


. Thais. 


443., 


.. Simplician. 


686 .. 


. Calixt. 


444., 


.. Martha (Mas.). 


700.. 


. Crissant. 


447 ., 


.. Abdon. 


711.. 


. Quentin. 


486., 


.. Cyriac {Mss.). 


712.. 


. Eustace. 


575 ., 


.. Felix. 


740.. 


. Theodoras. 


576 . 


,. Savin. 


751 .. 


. Brice. 


579., 


.. Lupus. 


788.. 


. Crisogone. 


580., 


.. Mamertin. 


797 .. 


. Saturnine. 


596 . 


.. Lambert. 


803.. 


. Pastor. 


597 ., 


.. Adrian. 







The MSS. also give etymologies for the following legends, which 
have Latin originals but are not reproduced in V. ; most of these 
are found in Caxton, as indicated. In every case here Caxton could 
have used either the Latin or the French ; we shall try to deter- 
mine later which he did use. 

II. Etymologies in mss. and Latin not in V. (or S.). 



Leg. 




Leg. 




47 .. 


,. Anastasia. 


601 .. 


. Hippolitus (C), 


108 ., 


.. Sebastian (C). 


527 .. 


. Bernard (C). 


174.. 


,. Vedast. 


538.. 


. Timothy (C). 


337 . 


.. Gordian. 


636 .. 


. Cosme (C). 


351 . 


.. Quiricus. 


659 .. 


. Remy (C). 


417 ., 


.. Apollinaris (C). 


771 .. 


. Caecilia (C). 


419 . 


.. Cristine (C). 


777 .. 


. Clement (C). 


483. 


.. Sixtus (C). 







90 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

Caxton does not translate all the etymologies (four instances of 
such omissions are to be seen in table II, and several more may be 
addedj as SecunduSy Marcellin, Leo^ etc.). The only one added by 
the revised Vignay (V., not included in table) is that for the non- 
Legenda story of Aubin, on fol. 440, at the end, instead of at the 
head of the chapter. This Caxton does not translate. But Caxton 
does give etymologies for two legends for which I have seen no 
original, in Latin or French ; he either originated them or had a 
diflPerent Latin text : these are St. Paul (Lat. p. 133) and St. Petro- 
nella (p. 343). It seems the more probable view to assume that 
he had some original for them. We have left eleven legends (in 
table II) whose etymologies Caxton got either from the French mss. 
or from the Latin, and one more, St. Felix Pope (Lat. p. 442), 
which differs markedly from the French MS. version (see I). Let 
us examine these twelve etymologies, for the purpose of discovering 
whether Caxton knew these Vignay mss. or relied on his Latin 
text. 

(1) Sebastian. Caxton gives all but the last sentence of the Lat. 
(p. 108), whereas the mss. translate the whole (Ya. fol. 40) ; there 
is nothing decisive against C. < French, but it seems more probable 
that if this had been the case he would have translated the whole. 

(2) Apollinaris. The version in the mss. (Va. fol. 151 ; Yr. f. 
174 b.) has for the second sentence of the Lat. (417) : " ou il est die 
de appollo, cest adire merueilleux, & denaus (sic ; Vr. de naris), qui 
est discrecion," etc. Caxton is slightly more accurate. 

(3) Cristine. Ya. f 1 52 ; Yr. f. 176 : " Cristine est dzte (Fr. a 
dire) au tant come ointe de cresme. Elle ot baptesme {erased ; Vr. 
le basme) le blasme {sic) de bone oudeur en conuersacion & luille 
de deuocion en sa pesee, & la beneicon de gloire.'' Caxton's looks 
like a direct translation from the Lat., except his last phrase, '' bene- 
dyction of grace," which does not fit any of the texts before us. 

(4) Sixtus. Ya. f. 174 b. Nothing decisive either way, espe- 
cially as both are evidently based on a text somewhat different from 
Lat. 483. 

(5). Hippolitus. Ya. f. 181 ; Yr. f. 209 : " Ipolite est dit de 
yper, qui vaut autaut cme desus, & de liquos^ qui est adire pierre," 
etc. The absence of this error in Caxton, and the omission of an 

^ The italics are mine. 



Legenda Aurea — Legende Dorie — Golden Legend, 91 

equivalent for id est Christum in the French, make it almost certain 
that Caxton here uses the Latin. 

(6) Bernard. Ya. f. 190 b. ; Vr. f. 220 b. Here, too, the omis- 
sion by the French of the reference to what Caxton calls " the glose 
uppon cantica '^ (=: Lat. 527, Glossa super cantica) shows use of 
the Latin. 

(7) Timothy. Va. f. 194; Vr. f. 224 b. Where the French 
translates the whole (Lat. p. 538), garbling the first sentence, 
Caxton gives merely a correct version of this first sentence. The 
French has : ^' Tymothee est autant adire come tenant paour ( Fr. 
pouour), ou cine paour (pouour) de dieu. & si cme s. gregoire dit 
(gregoire s. dist),^^ etc. 

(8) Cosme & Damien. Ya. f. 228 b; Yr. f. 266. The French 
is differently ordered, but aside from this there is no essential dif- 
ference; the French agrees with Lat. (636) in reading damum, 
Caxton following ^' later editions'' (Graesse's note) with daminum, 
but agreeing with the Latin in order : the latter should be his 
original. Here is a portion of the French : '^ Damien est dit de 
dama, une beste humble & soueue. Ou il est dit de dogma, cest 
doctrine, & de ana, qui est adire haut. ou de damum, qui est adire 
sacrefice. Quar il ot debonnairete en conuersacion & ensaigna doc- 
trine souueraine en sa predicacion. il fu sacrefice en ameigrisant 
sa char. Ou damien est dit aussi cme de dieu main. Quar il fu 
main de dieu en cure de medecine.'' 

(9) Remy. Ya. f. 236 b. ; Yr. f. 276. ^' Remi est de remige, qui 
vaut autant cme gouuerneur de nef. Ou il est dit de remis, auirons 
par les quelz la nef est menee {Vr. muee), & de gion, qui est adire 
estrif. II gouuerna leglise & mena a droit port par mi le peril de 
noier, et estriua pour ycelle centre les agues ( Vr. agues) du dyable.'' 
Caxton's closer adherence to the order of the Latin (p. 659), his 
rendering of eam duxit ad portam paradisic = brought it to the 
porte ofheuen, and of insidias =z assaultSy not wiles ^ or snares (agues), 
show again that he translated directly. 

(10) Caecilia.^ Ya. f. 274 b.; Yr. f. 320 b. Although certain 
phrases [such as : virginitatis pudorem = (French) pure virginite 

^ The Ste. Cecile in Chaucer Soc, 2d ser., No. 10, p. 193, is from a text printed 
at Paris, 1513, and gives an etymology. The phrasing is somewhat different from 
that in our texts. 



92 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

= clennes of vyrgynyte ; and candorem munditiae = blancheur de 
nettete = whytenes of dennesse'^ seem significant, the omission in the 
French of the sentence about Ysidorus, which Caxton has, is proof 
enough that he used the Latin. 

(11) Clement Ya. f. 277 ; Yr. f. 322 b. Both Caxton and the 
French omit the portion from Augustine (p. 777). The omission 
of the name Itynerarye in the following passage is again enough 
evidence, to say nothing of the different rendering of the last sen- 
tence : " II inseria sa vie li meismes en • i • sien liuret meismement 
iusqwes a cestui lieu ou il fu demonstre estre successeur s. pierre. 
Et ces autres choses sont prises en ses fais, qui sont communement 
eus." 

(12) Felix (p. 442). Ya. f. 160 ; Yr. f. 185. This is the only 
one of the list for which there is no Latin original in Graesse. All 
the French versions (Ya., Yr., and Y.) give an etymology for the 
third Felix (p. 575), which I shall also give. The present one 
(mss.) is : " Felix vaut autant adire cme souffrant tenchon ; quar il 
souffri noise & tenchon et fa enuoie en essil pour ce quil condampna 
leresie arrienne. ou felix vault au taut adire cme beneure ; quar 
il fu beneure par glorieux martire.'^ Now the etymology for the 
other Felix (575) is on the same lines, but sufficiently different 
( Y. f. 257 b. ; Ya. f. 207 ; Yr. f. 239) : " Felix est dit de fero, fers, 
cest adire porter, et de lis, litis, tenchon / & vault autant a dire 
felix comme portant tenchon / car il porta tenchon pour la foy de 
nostre seigneur ihesu crist (MSS. foy de dieu, only) / contre tons les 
mescreans (mescroians) et les ydoUes ( Vr, ydolastres), et les destru- 
isist toutes par son souffler." These two seem to me to settle the 
matter ; for while Caxton gives a translation of the latter, as found 
in the printed Y. and in Stowe MS., his etymology for Felix the Pope 
is entirely different from that given above from mss. Ya. and Yr. 
We are justified in concluding that Caxton used only the later form 
of the Yignay French. 

Two legends not found in Y. (or S.) but found in the MSS. and Cax- 
ton also support this view. In Quiriciis (p. 351), which is omitted 
in Y., the mss. (Ya. fol. 126 b.) give not only the legend but the 
etymology, which Caxton omits. It is very probable that he drew 
the legend from the Eng. mss., but I can only say that the versions 
are the same on the surface, as time did not permit of a thorough 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend. 93 

collation and comparison. And in Marine (353) the French Mss. 
again give an etymology (no Latin original) which is not copied 
by Caxton ; this legend is omitted in Y. ; the texts given below 
indicate the Latin as Caxton's probable source. In the case of 
Gordian (337) both Caxton and Y. omit the etymology, which is 
found in mss. (Ya. f. 124 b.); but in the legend itself it will be 
found that Caxton does not follow the longer version given by Y. 
(fol. 385) but that in the Latin and the Eng. mss. 

The etymologies are very instructive, giving us many a side 
glance at Caxton's methods of composition — errors sometimes repro- 
duced quite regardless of sense, sometimes corrected from the Latin, 
and alternate compression and expansion of his text. His correc- 
tions are not, of course, confined to the etymologies. In the Seven 
Sleepers the printed Y. has (fol. 199) : " Et adont dist le iuge .... 
quarit il appert en lescripture quil y a plus de — [blank space^ which 
has been filled in by hand with indistinct figures, apparently • i ij * "*'] 
dix et sept ans que elle fut monoie." Now Stowe MS. f. 234 
has no omission here : "'iij^&lxxvij ans ; " and Yr. f. 183 
has: " • ccc • et • Ixxvij;" while Caxton has : " more than • i ij ° 
Ixxij yere," a date which he could not have taken from the im- 
perfect Y.,^ but evidently from S., the Eng. MSS. (see below), or 
the Latin, with an error of his own. Y. (and S., ff. 136 b. and 
139 b.) has apparently, as I have noticed before (above, p. 45), two 
chapters on Benoit; but the first of these (fol. Ill b.), to which 
is blindly prefixed the etymology for Benoit, really deals with 8t, 
Maur. Caxton has corrected this ; and further, while the French 
Benoit begins (Y. f. 114): "Saint benoit fut enuoie a rome pour 
estudie / mais tres son enfance,'' etc., Caxton has, more correctly : 
" Saynt benet was borne of the prouynce of Nurcia / And was sent 
to Rome for to studye / but in hys Infancye," etc. 

In the etymology of Vite & Modeste Caxton and the French had, 
apparently, a somewhat different text from that in Graesse (p. 350), 
For Vite the Y. text has (f 151) : " Yy est dit de {sic). Et saint 
augustin, ou liure de la cite de dieu, deuise de trois manieres de vie," 
etc.^ Caxton has : " Yyte is sayd of vyta, that is lyf /Saynt austyn, 

^ The reading in V. was, of course, meant to be : ^Hrois cents soixante dix et sept." 
"S. f. 183 b. ; Va. f. 126; and Vr. f. 145, practically the same, but do not omit 
vie. 



94 Legenda Aurea — Legende Doree — Golden Legend. 

in libro de trinitate, deuyseth of thre maners of lyf/' etc. He has 
supplied the omission, and yet differs from V. (or S.), and even 
from the Latin, in substituting de trinitate for de civitate Dei. Mr. 
Ellis's lonesome bit of evidence from the etymology of Stephen, to 
show that Caxton used the printed V., will not stand when we find 
exactly the same error in S. (51, fol. 25). I quote from V. f. 64 b. ; 
S. is exactly the same : '' Estiene est a dire en orrec autant come 
courone / & en hebrieu exemple aux autres de souffrir / Ou estiene 
est aussi come nobleme/tt et loiame/U parla/it, euseignant, et gou- 
uerna??t / come amis et saine venue,^ et il fut depute des apostres a 
garder les vefues ^/ adont il fut couroue pour tout le comencement 
de martire / exemple jK)ur lexemple de pacience et de hien viure / no- 
bleme?it parlant pour sa tresnoble p/-edicacion / et hien gouuernant 
pour le bon enseignement des vefues." 

The variants in the Oxford printed version are interesting enough 
to warrant quoting a portion of it (fol. 17 b.) : '^ Estiene en grec 
est auta/U adire en latin come corone, et en hebrieu reigle. il fut_ 
courone, cest a dire c6menceme?it, de martire au nouueau testament, 
ainsi come abel au viel testament. II fut norme, cest adire exer/iple 
oa reigle aux aultres de offrir. ou estiene est dit come nobleme7it 
et loiaulme?zt parlant et cognoissant ; ^ et amy des femmes vefues, 
car il fut depute des apostres a garder les vefues," etc. 

In addition to this point from the etymology — Caxton translates 
saine venue by hole comen — Mr. Ellis mentions a curious series of 
mistranslations in the St. Stephen. The Vulgate has : viderunt 
faciem ejus tanquam faciem angelij which Voragine makes : vultus 
angelicus quifalsos testes terreret (so on p. 50; but Mr. Ellis fails 
to note that, on the next page, in the proper connection, he has 
almost the exact words : " videbant faciem ejus tamquam faciem 
angeli.") The French version used by Caxton (V. and S.) has : 
" le vol des angeles espoenta les faulx temoignages " = Caxton 
"the flight of Angellis fered. the false witnessys." And another 
French MS., 15th century, in the possession of Mr. Thomas Brooke, 
of Huddersfield, which purports to be " translacte par frere iacques 

^ Vr. f. 25 b., and Va. f. 20 ; cognurent ; car anus est fame veuue {might easily be 
misread venue. 

* Vr. and Va. venes; below veuues. I give only the significant variants. 
s Cf. Vr. and Va. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 95 

de haultpas de lordre des freres prescheurs," and is a Vignay ver- 
sion, has another reading (same in Vr. f. 26) : " le vent de langre 
qui espaouta les faux temoins/' Our English mss. vary ; H. f. 14 b. 
has rendered only the first (vultus .... qui terreret) : ^' the visage 
of the aungel that ferid the fals witnes." The others give also the 
second (videbant .... angeli, cf. h., fol. 18 ; E. f. 11 b. ; A. f. 43 ; 
only orthographic variants) : "And )?an al ]>o )?at were in ]>e Juge- 
ment segh ])e visage of him as 'pe visage of an angel/^ with which 
cf. Vr. : '^ et done tous ceulz qui estoient en iugement virent la face 
de luy aussi come la face de • j • angre '^ (sic). It will be noted that 
the English mss. have not followed either of the errors in the French. 
The version of Ustienne in the Belet mss. is quite unlike the Legenda. 

One might add indefinitely to the list of Caxton's mistransla- 
tions. The V. text (and mss.) etymology of Juliana begins (fol. 
104): "Juliane fut epousee/et est dicte ainsi comme ardaut^ 
plainement / car elle saida a plain contre la temptation du diable," 
etc. The word ardant is manifestly a misprint for aidant; but 
Caxton has : " Juliane is as moche to saye as brennyng playnly /for 
she hrente her self/^ etc. He has not only an error in the first case 
but in the second also, evidently due to his reading sarda for saida. 
A similar error is found in the etymology of St. Lowe (Lupus, Lat. 
579 has none). V. f. 259 b. has : '^ Leu est aulcune fois en la iambe 
dont il lui faut medecine, la quele est une maladie qui rogne et use 
la char.'' Caxton renders rogne, which is indistinct, and might 
easily be read regne, by regneth, though just below he translates 
" rogna sa propre char '' by " strayned his propre flesshe.'' ^ 

V. gives a long etymology for the Purification, and embellishes 
the earlier portion of the legend considerably ; and Caxton follows 
this. The etymology begins (fol. 97) : *^ Post qitam impleti sunt dies 
purga^wnis marie secundu legem moisi tuleru?it ihesu in iherusalem : 
luce • ij • capitulo / La ancienne loy auoit son coeur (sic.) iusques 
atant que nre seigneur souffrit mort pour noits," etc. The mss. 
simply follow the Latin (Yr. f. 68 ; Va. f. 58) : " La purificacion 
de la benoite vierge marie est faite au • x 1 • iour apres la natiuite 
nre seigneur. Et ceste feste,'' etc. I shall quote a few more of 
the etymologies merely as samples. We shall begin with Blaise, 

^S.f. 128; Fa./. 646.; Vr.f. 756. have aidant. 
* S.f. 314 has plainly rongne, and rongna. 



96 Legenda Aurea — Legende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

from V. (f. 99) and the mss., from Caxton, who introduces correc- 
tions, and the Latin (p. 167), and then Julian^ Basile^ Hilary , AlexiSy 
and Aubinj the latter found in V. (S.) alone. 

" Ce nom cy blase quant a lethimologie est dit blancq / ou de 
bella il est dit belasius, qui vault autant a dire que habitue / et fior 
{sc. sior)y qui vault autant que petit / et ainsi est il dit blancq par 
doulceur de ses parolees / et petit par humilite de meurs et de con- 
uersation/^ — Vr, fol. 71 b ; Va. f, 61. "Blaise^ est autant adire 
come souef. ou basil e est dist de bala, qui est adire habit, et de syor, 
qui vaut autant cme petit. II fu souef en parole. II fu habit de 
vertus, et petit par humilite de bones mewrs." — Caxton : " Blase 
is as moche to saye as glosyng, or it is sayd as belacius of bela whiche 
is habyte, and sius whyche is to saye lityl. And thus he is sayd 
glosyng by the swetenes of hys word, meke by hys habyte of ver- 
tues, and lytyl by humylyte of maners and of conuersacion.^' ^ — 
Latin : " Blasius quasi blandus vel Blasius quasi belasius a bela, 
quod est habitus, et syor parvulus. Fuit enim blandus per dulcedi- 
nem sermonum, habitus per habitus virtutum, parvulus per humili- 
tatem morum.^' 

St. Julian. V. fol. 94. — " lulien vault autant a dire comme 
iubilus, chantant / & ana, qui est aidant hault / Et est dit iulien 
ainsi comme iubileu / car il alia aux haultes et souueraines choses 
en chantant. Ou il est dit iulius, qui vault autant a dire come non 
sachant, et ami ^ cest viel / car il fut viel & au seruice de dieu long 
eage ; et non sachant selong ce quil se reputoit." — Caxton : 
"lulien is as moche to saye as jubilus, syngyng, and ana, that is 
on hye, and therof Julyen as goyng to hye thynges in syngyng. 
Or it is said Julius, that is as moche to saye as not wyse, & anus, 
that is old, for he was old in the seruyce of god, & not wyse in 
reputacion of hym self — Latin: " Julianus quasi jubilus et ana 
quod est sursum. Inde Julianus quasi Jubilianus, quia cum jubilo 
superna petiit. Vel a Julius, quod est incipiens, et anus. Nam in 
Dei servitio fuit senex longanimitate, sed incipiens sui reputatione." 

St. Basille. V. fol. 86 b. — " Basille est dit de basis en grec, qui 
vault autant a dire come fondement / & lis, qui est a dire tencon, 

^ In Va. the name is here, and in the title, wrongly given as Basille. 
^ Note how Caxton has combined V. and the Latin. 
^ Vr. fol. 62, and Va. f. 52 : anus ; other variants slight. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 97 

oar il fut grant fondement et fonde en doctrine / et osta la tencon 
dentre les hereges et les cristiens par le sens et la bonne doctrine 
de luy.'^ ^ — Caxton : " Basille is said of basis in greke, which is 
as moche to saye as a foundement, and leos, that is peple, for he was 
foundement of them that wold go to their maker. Or ellis it is 
sayd of basilico, a serpente, for he ouercam the serpente, enemye 
of oaankynde." 

St. Hilaire. V. fol. 65. — " Hilaire est dit de ioieusete, car il fut 
ioieulx ^ ou seruice de dieu / Ou hilaire est dit virtueulx et hault, 
car il fut hault et en science fort et virtueulx en sa vie^/ Ou hilaire 
est dit de hisle, qui vault autant a dire comme matere * qui fut ob- 
scure/car il eut en ses dis grant obscurte et grant erreur.^'^ — MS. 
Francais 1054, /o/. 397 b. " Hilaire est dit loieits, Car il fu moult 
loieus el seruice de dieu. Ou hilaire est dit hault et vertueuls, car 
il fu, hault en science et vertueus en vie.'' — Caxton : " Hylaire is 
said of joyouste, for he was joyous in the seruyce of god. Or 
hylaire is said vertuous and hye, for he was hye & stronge in science, 
and vertuous in hys lyf. Or hylaire is said of yle, whyche is to 
saye derke mater, for he had in his dictes grete obscurete and pro- 
foundnes.'' ^ — Latin : " Hilarius dictus est quasi hilaris, quia in 
servitute Dei valde hilaris fuit, vel dicitur Hilarius quasi alarius, 
ab altus et ares virtus, quia fuit altus in scientia et vertuosus in 
vita. Vel Hilarius dicitur quasi ab hyle, quod est quasi primordi- 
alis materia, quae obscura fuit, et ipse in dictis suis magnam habet 
obscuritatem et profunditatem." 

St. Alexis. V. fol. 436. — '^Alexis vault autant a dire come yssant 
de la loy "^ de mariage pour tenir virginite a dieu. et renoncha du 
tout a la loy mondaine pour tenir poure te."^ — Caxton : "Alexys is 
as moche to say as goyng oute of the lawe of maryage for to kepe 

^ Vr. f. 53, and Va. f. 44 6. present practically no variants, except omission of adjs. 
grant and bonne. Caxton either had an entirely distinct Lat. text — there is no etymol. 
in Graesse, p. 121 — or invented an etymol. 

* Vr.f. 44, and Va.f. 36 6; moult ioieus. 

' MSS. haut en science, vertueuse en sa vie. 

* MSS. matiere, aussi come la premiere matiere qui fu oscure, quar, etc. 

* MSS. pardeur, meant for parfondeur, as in Vo.foL 33 6. 

* Note how C. has corrected V. 

■^ Vr.f 1686., and Va.f. 146 : loy, que il issi de la loy de mariage pour, etc. 
^MSS. pourete. 
7 



98 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Doric — Golden Legend. 

vyrgynyte for goddes sake, and to renounce alle the pompe and 
rychesses of the world for to lyue in pouerte.'' — Latin : "Alexius 
dicitur ab a, quod est valde, et lexis, quod est sermo : inde Alexius 
quasi valde in verbo Dei robustus." ^ 

St. Aubin. Y. fol. 440. — " Selon nre langaige albin vault autant 
a dire celui, primo, qui a blancheur, cest qui est blanc par purete / 
quia albinus dicitur quasi albus / et celui cy fut tout blanc par 
purete / secundo, qui a valeur / cest qui a en luy boute : sic albinus 
dicitur quasi bonus / Et vraiement celui cy fut bon / tertio, qui tent 
hault par vigeur, & vole a lespiritualite / sic albinus dicitur alas 
binas habens / cest assauoir, foy & esperance / '^ 

These gleanings from the etymologies, though the sheaf may well 
contain more straw than wheat, have not been altogether aimless. 
The main point was to show that Caxton is full of surprises. When 
we least expect it we find him alert and active in making correc- 
tions. And the purpose of my work will be attained if I shall 
have succeeded in making future investigators more cautious in 
asserting that this or that work is the source of Caxton's Golden 
Legend. Not until every legend has been carefully compared with 
the English MSS., with the French, and, last but certainly not least^ 
with the Latiu, can we safely and reasonably claim to have unra- 
velled this tangled skein. It is a Joseph's coat of many colors, and 
the infinite pains with which it was put together by the industrious 
printer-translator deserves our respect, if not our admiration. The 
texts which I shall give, while furnishing convincing proofs of 
Caxton's borrowings — in the case of those from MS. Ad. 11,565, 
almost word for word — should also give some idea of the intricacy 
and delicacy of the problem of his sources. 

The texts which I shall now give will show more clearly than 
anything else the nature of Caxton's debt to the previous versions. 
In the legends from MS. A. we shall find the closest agreement with 
Caxton ; in those from the other MSS. it is not so close. The speci- 
men legends from the French versions will show their relations ta 
Caxton and to the MSS. But all these points may be better brought 
out when we have the texts before us. 

^ The French (V.) text disposes of Horstraann's comment {Alleng. Leg. N. F., 
loc. ciL) on C.'s divergence from the Latin. 



Legenda Aurea — Ltgende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 99 



Chapter V. Legends from English and French 
Versions of the Legenda. 

A. St. Cuthbert. MS. Add. 11,565, fol. 56 b. (xxxiii). 

Here endith the life of seint chadde. And next folowith the 
life of seint Cuthbert. Seint Cuthbert was bore here in englonde. 
and whan he was of the age of • viij * yere oure lorde shewid for hjm 
a faire myracle to drawe hym to his loue ; for in a tyme as he 
pleyed atte balle with othir childern sodenly there stode amonges 
them a feyre yong childe of the age of thre^ yere, that was the 
feyrest creature that euer thei byhilde. and anone he seid to cuth- 
bert : " goode brother, use no suche veyne pleys, nor set not thi 
hert on them." But for al that Cuthbert toke none heede to his 
wordes. And than the childe fille downe to the grounde, and made 
gret heuenes, and wept ful sore, and wrange his hondes. And then 
Cuthbert and the other childern lefte ther pley, and confortide this 
yong childe, & askid hym whi he made so gret sorowe. and then 
this childe^ seid to cuthbert : " al my heuynes is only for the, that 
thou usist suche veyne pleys ; ffor oure lorde hath chosyn Ihe to 
be an hed of holy churche." And then sodenly he vanished awey, 
and therby thei knewe that this childe was an angel of oure lorde 
sent fro heuene to the confort of his chosyn seruant cuthbert. and 
anone he left al suche veyne pleyes and neuer more used them aftir, 
but bygan to leue a ful holy lyfe, and desired of his fader that ^ he 
myght be sette to scole. and anone he drewe to goode levyng, and 
was euer in his preyers, bothe nyght and day ; & euer he preid to 
oure lorde that he wolde yeue hym grace to do tho thynge?s that 
shulde plese hym, and to forsake al thynges that shulde displese 
hym. And he leuyd so holy a life that al peple had gret ioy of 
hym. 

And within a while aftir Aydane the holy bishop dyed, and seint 
Cuthbert as he kepte shepe in the felde lokyd upwarde and se angels 
here the soule of seint Aydan the bishop into heuene with gret 
melody. And then seint cuthbert aftir that wolde not kepe no 

* MS. the, corrected in marg, note, cf, swpra, pp. 65 and 67. 

* MS. shilde, cor, in marg, ' MS, has the. 



L.$rr 



100 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 

more shepe, but went anone to the Abbey of Gervatts, and there 
he made a grey monke (sic), wherfore al the couent was glad, and 
thonkyd oure lorde ; for he leued there in gret fastyng and perl- 
aunce. And atte laste he had the gowte in his kne by colde that 
he toke in knelyng upon the colde stonys when he seid his preyers, 
that his kne bygan to swelle that the senews of his legge were 
schronke that he myght not go nor strecche oute his legge. And 
euer he toke it ful paciently, and seid when it plesid oure lorde it 
shulde passe awey. and within a while aftir his brethern to do hym 
conforte bare hym into the felde. and there thei met with a knyght 
that bade them : " let me se and handle this cuthbertes legge." and 
then when he had felyd hit with his hondes he bade them take the 
mylke of a cowe of on coloure, and Juse of smale planteyn, and 
feyre whete floure, and sethe them al togyder, and ley hit therto 
bote like a plauster, and it wol make hym holle. and anone he was 
made parfite holle. and then he thonkyd oure lorde ful mekely, 
and knewe wel anone aftir that it was an angel sent fro heuene to 
hele hym of his ^ gret sikenes and dissese, by the purviance of god. 

And than the abbot of that place was right glad of his recoueryng, 
and sent hym to a celle of thers to be hosteler there to receyue in 
gestis and do them comforte. and sone aftir oure lorde shewid there 
a fayre myracle for his seruaunt seint Cuthbert. for angels come to 
hym thider ofte tymes in likenes of othir gestys, and he wolde 
serue hem ful diligently with mete, drynke, and al othir necessaryes ; 
and went oute to the bakhowse for to fecche them hote bred ; but 
ar he come ayene his gestys were al gon, and no mete ete at al. & 
that same tyme was a gret snowe, and then he lokyd to se by ther 
fete what wey thei went ; but he cowde se no steppe of them ; 
wherfore he had gret merueyle. and as he sought aboute he come 
by a chambre where he smylled an heuenely sauour, and went in 
and founde a table spred, with mete and drynke thereon, and then 
he sat downe atte seid table and ete and dranke and made ful mery, 
and thonkyd oure lorde of his gret goodenes to sende hym suche 
gestys, whiche were his holy angels sent fro heiiene to his confort. 

And eu^ry nyght when his brethern were a-bcd he wolde go into 
the colde water al naked, and stonde therin up to the chyn till it 
were mydnyght, and then he wolde go out. and when he come to 

^MS. of his bis. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 101 

londe he myght not stonde ; for he was so feble that ofte tyme he fil 
downe to the grounde. and o tyrae as he lay this come • i j • otyrs and 
liked euery place of his body, and then went ayen to the see that 
thei come fro. And then seint Cuthbert rose up al holle and went 
to his celle ayene, and rose up to matyns like as his brethern dide. 
but his brethern knewe no thyng of his stondyng this euery nyght 
in the se up to the chyn. But atte laste on of his brethern aspied 
and knewe of his doyng^s, and tolde therof ; but he chargid hym 
to kepe his consel while he leued. 

And then within a while aftir died the bishop of derham, and 
seint Cuthbert was made bishop aftir hym. And then euer aftir 
he leued a ful holy lyfe, and brought muche peple to goode leuyng 
by his holy prechyng and goode ensample yeuyng. And aftir his 
deth he was translatid and put into a worshipful shyryne in the 
towne of derhara, where oure lorde shewith many a gret myracle 
for his holy seruaitnt seint Cuthbert : wherfore oure lorde be 
preysed, worlde withoute ende, amen. Here endith the life of seint 
Cuthbert. and next folowid the life of seint feith. 

B. St. Aldelme. Fol. xxix b. 

Seint Aldelme the confessor was bore in Englonde. his fader 
hyght kenton ; he was the kynges brother of this londe that was 
clepid yve [sic). And when the king was dede this kenton was 
made kyng aftir hym. And than this holy childe aldelme was 
sette to scole in the howse of malnaysbury, where he was made 
aftir warde Abbot. And than he dide there gret coste in bildyng, 
& dide there make a ful rial abbey. And when the pope herde of 
his gret holynes he sent for hym to come to Kome. And than the 
pope made ful muche of hym atte his comyng, and long tyme he 
dwellid there with the pope, and gette ful gret priueleges to the 
howse of malmysbury : that no bishop of englond shulde haue a-do 
there, nor the kyng neyther to lette them of ther fre election, but 
for to chese ther abbot amonges them self. And when he had gete 
al these pryuelages of the pope he was ful glad and ioyful. and he 
leued there many yere in ful holy leuyng. And than in a day as 
he seid messe in the churche of seint John latrans. And when the 
masse was done ther wolde no man take his vestyment fro hym, and 



102 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

than he se the sonne heme shyne in at an hole in tlie glas wyndowe, 
and he hyng his Chesiple theron, that al men myght se this gret 
miracle. And the same Chesiple is yet atte malmysbury ; the 
coloure therof is purpul. 

And within a while aftir he come into englonde ay en, and brought 
with hym ful gret pryueleges under the popis seal of ledde. and 
whan he come to the kynge yve and to athelrede thei confermyd 
al that the pope had grauntide to his howse of malmysbury. this 
was the yere of oure lorde • vij ?& • vj. And than ther was a 
gret variaiince among the bishops of this londe for the holdyng of 
Ester day. But he made a boke that al men shulde knowe foreuer 
when Ester day shal be, the whiche boke is yet atte malmysbury. 
And this Abbey he foitndydde in the worship of oure lady. And 
brightwolde, that was than erchebishop of canturbury, herde of 
aldelmes holy lyuyng, and sent for hym to be his conseyloi^r*. and 
there thei leued togider many a day in ful holy life, and ful ioyful 
were eyther of othir. And on a day as they were on the see syde 
by douer ther seyled a ship with marchandise not fer fro the londe. 
And than seint Aldelme clepid to them to wete if thei -had ony 
ornament thet longith to holy churche witAin the ship for to selle. 
But the marchauntys had skorne of hym, and thought he was not of 
power to bye suche thynges as thei had, and so departide fro this 
holy man. But anone ther fil on \em ^ so gret tempest that thei 
were in poyute to be lost. & than on of them seid : " we suffre this 
gret trouble for we toke in skorne the wordes of the holy man ; and 
therfore late us al desire hym to prey for us to oure lorde." And 
than thei dide so, and anone the tempest.^ And than thei come 
to this holy man and brought hym a feyre bible, the whiche is yet 
atte malmysbury to thys day. 

And he was made bishop • iiij • yere by fore he dyed by bright- 
wolde, erchebishop of Canturbury, and by seint Edwyne,^ byshop of 
wurcetter. and by them he was ful worshipfully brought on erthe. 
And yet the bishop Edwyne come thyder fedyrd with chenys of 
Iron fast lockid ; and fro thens he went so to the pope of Rome, 
whiche was to hym a ful gret peyne : god quytte his mede. And 
seint Aldelme or he dyed cursid al them that dide eny wrong to 

^ MS. hym, cor. in margin. * Caxton: tempest cesed. 

• In marg. here and beloWf Edgwyne. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 103 

his seid abbey of malmysbery in brekyng of eny of ther pryueleges. 
And thei that holpe that howse shulde haue goddes blessyng and 
his. And many days there aftir he was translatide and put in a 
ful worshipful schyryne, where Cure lorde shew* dayly many a gret 
myracle for his holy confessor seint Aldelme : wherefore oure lorde 
be preysed, worlde withoute ende. Amen. Here endith the life 
of seint Aldelme the confessour. and next folowith the lyfe of seint 
Theophile. 

C. Saint Swythyn. Fol. xxxii (55). 

Here endith the life of seint Theophile. and next bygynneth the 
life of seint Swythen. 

Seint Swithen the holy confessour was bore by sides wynchester, 
in the tyme of Egbert, he was the • v i i j • kynge aftir kenulf ]>at 
seint Beryne Cristened ; for seint Austyn cristened not al Inglonde 
in kyng athelbright^s days, but seint Beryn dide cristen the west 
parte of Inglonde in the foreseid kyng kenulf is (sic) days. And 
than this holy seint swythen seruyd oure lorde in ful gret deuocion, 
so that al the peple had gret ioy of his holynes. & Elmeston, that 
was tho bishop of wyncester, made hym preste ; and than he leued 
a ful streyte life, and bycome a ful holy man, so that kyng Egbert 
made hym hys chaunceler & chefe of his oonseil. And than the 
kyng Egbert put his sonne and his heyre, that hight Ethulfe, into 
his guydyng, and preid hym to take goode heede to hym, so that 
he were brought fourth vcrtuosly. and within a while aftir his fader 
died, and than Ethulfe his sonne was made kyng aftir hym. And 
he guydide this londe ful wel, that it encresed gretly in goode 
leuyng, by the counseil of seint Swythen. 

And when Elmeston the bishop of wynchester was dede seint 
Swythen was made bishop there aftir hym, wherefore al the peple 
were ful glad, and he by his holy levyng causid ]>e peple to do ther 
tythyng trewly to god and to holy churche. and where that eny 
churche fil in decay seint Swythen wolde amende it anone. and if 
ther were eny churche to be halowid he wolde go thedyr on fote, 
for he loued neuer pride, nor rydyng on gay horse, nor preysyng 
ne flateryng of the peple. But nowe suche veyne thynges beth 
gretly byloued among hie estates, bothe spirituel and temporal. 
Seint Swythen goydyd ful wel his bishopriche, and ful wel he 



104 Legenda Aurea — Legends Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

amendide the towne of wynchester in his days, for he made the gret 
bridge of stone withoute the west yate of the towne. In a tyme 
ther come a woman ower the bridge with hir lap ful of egges. and 
a recheles felowe toke this woman and wrestelyd with hir, and he 
breke ther al hir egges ; wherfore the pore woman bygan to wepe 
and cry piteously for the losse of hir egges. And than it happyd 
that this holy bishop coQie by that same tyme, and bade the woman 
lete hym se hir egges. And anone he lifte up his honde and blessid 
the egges, and thei were made holle and sownde euerychone. And 
than this woman was fulfilled with gladnes, and she thonkid this 
holy man for this gret goodenes and myracle that he had done 
for hir. 

And then anone aftir dyed kyng Ethulfe, and then his sonne 
egbert was kyng aftir him. And then was athelbert made kyng 
aftir hym. And in the * iij * yere of this kyng dyed seint Swythyn, 
and he charged hys men to bery hym in the churche yerde, for caus6 
the peple shulde sette but litle prise by hym, for he loued no pride 
in his lyfe. And he passid to oure lorde in the yere of oure lorde 
. vi ij ? and . vj . and he lay there in that churche yerde or he was 
translatide and (sic) hundred and nyne yere and odde days. But 
in the goode kyng Edgar is days this holy seint, Seint Swythyn^ 
was put in a ful worshipful shiryne in the towne of wyncester by 
Ethelwolde and seint Donstone. & in the same yere was seint 
Edwarde the martyr shyryned atte Schaftysbury. 

These holy bishops, Ethelwolde and donstone, were warned by 
a vision that thei shulde se these • ij • holy seintes, Edward and 
Swithen, put in a worshipful schryne, and so thei dide with ful gret 
deuocion. and in like wise an holy man come to Ethelwolde and 
bade hym do the same, and if he so do his sikenes that he hatb 
had so long shal go awey fro hym, and euer aftir he shal be holle, 
to his ly ves ende. and also by the tokyn that he shal fynde on seint 
Swythyn stone \at lithe on his beriele rynges of Iron theron nayled 
fast, and anone as thei sette honde on the ryng it come fro the stone 
anone, and no weme was seyn in the stone. And when J^ei had 
take up the stone fro the grave thei sette the rynges to the stone, 
and thei were fastenyd anone therto. And than the bishop ethel- 
wolde and al the peple thankid oure lorde for this gret myracle. 
And whan kyng Edgar with many bishops and gret multitude of 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 105 

peple were atte takyng up of the holy body of seint Swythen, suche 
a sauour come oute of his grave that al the peple were fulfilled with 
that heuenely swetenes. And that same tyme a blynde woman re- 
ceyued hir sight by the merytes' of seint Swithen. And many on 
was helyd there thurgh that heuenely sauour that were byfore tor- 
mentide with ful gret sikenes, and yet there oure lorde shewith by 
his holy seruant many a gret myracle : wherefore his name be 
preysed, worlde withoute ende. Amen. Here endith the life of 
seint Swythen. And next folowyth the life of seint kenelrae the 
holy martyr. 

D. St. Donston.^ Fol. xxix (53). 

And than kyng Edgar and Odo made seint donston byshop of 
bothe, of london and of wynchester. And within a while aftir died 
Odo, Erchebishop of canturbury. And than kyng Edgar ^ let6 
make donstone Erchebishop there, and wel and wisely he goydide 
]>is londe, to the plesyng of god, so that gret loye and myrthe was 
that tyme thorugh al Englonde. And euery man preysed gretly 
seint Donstone for his goode rule and goydyng. And than he bade 
euery person to chese, either to kepe goode life and chastite or else 
to lese his personage. Thus seint Donston, seint Ethelwolde & 
seint Oswolde went thurgh al englonde to se the rule of persons, 
and they ]}at^ were not of goode leuyng thei put them oute of j^er 
personages and toke al ther goodes fro them, and put in ther stede 
the moste holy men* ]>at wolde entende the wele of manys soule 
and leuyd aftir the plesure of god. And of the goodes that thei 
toke of the wickid persons |?ei bylde here in Englonde • xlviij • 
abbeys of monkys and of nonys, as it is afore seid,^ 

E. St. Thomas of Canterbury. Fol. 45 b. 

Gylbert beket was seint Thomas of Caunturbury is fader, and 
borne in the Cite of london where seint Thomas of akers chirche is 

' I give only small portions of Donston and Becket, where they seemed of special 
interest as showing what Caxton did or did not borrow. 

* MS. Edgad, cor. in margin. 

' MS. and that they ; cor. in marg. * MS. man ; cor. marg. 

* My italics ; note suggestion above, p. 85 ; this does not refer to any portioa 
of Donston, and I suggest a reference to a lost chapter on Oswald. 



106 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DoHe — Golden Legend. 

nowe. and he ^ was a ful goode man. and in his yong age he toke 
the crosse and went into the holy londe, and toke with hym on 
wyllyam, that was his man, that he loued and trust right wel. and 
so when god wolde thei come to the Cite of Jerusalem, and there 
thei dide ther pilgremage with ful gret deuocioun. And as thei 
were comyng homwarde ayene thei were take prisoners of the sar- 
asyns, with many other cristen men with hem. And thei al were 
brought as prisoners to the prynce of howse that was clepid Amy- 
rand .... But this prynce Amyrand had a gret affection to 
talke with gilbert beket, and wolde aske hym of the Cristen feith, 
of the rule of Englonde. and bycause he was famylier with the 
prynce al his felowes ferde the better for his sake ; and in especial 
for the princes doughter louyd muche this gilbert. And in a tyme 
she seid to hym if he wolde wedde hir she wolde forsake al hir 
heritage and bycome cristen for his loue. And than she askid of 
hym of the rule of cristen feith, and what shulde be ther rewarde atte 
laste ende. And he answerd and seid : " the blisse of heuene is 
ther rewarde.'^ and than she askyd him where he dwellid. He 
seid : ^^ in Englonde, in the Cite of london." And than she seid : 
" to london wol I come for thi sake if thou wilte promyse to wedde 
me to thi wife." And than he mad hir promyse so to do. But 
within a while aftir he and his felowe, by the puruyaunce of oure 
lorde, escapid oute of prison and come into cristyndome in safte. . . . 
And this mayde, the pr^/nces doughter, herde this she was ful 
heuy, and wepte ful sore. And in a nyght whan she se hir tyme 
she went away alone, and come into many a wilde place .... and 
euer she askyd aftir " london, london," and " beket, beket," for 
more englysshe coude she not. And so atte last by the puruyaunce 
of oure lorde she come ouer see into englonde, and so forth to lon- 
don. and when she come ayenst the place where gilbert beket 
dwellid, there seint Thomas of akirs is nowe, she stode stil ther, 
and many a sherewed boy wonderyng upon hir, for she koude sey 
no thyng but " london, london," & '^ beket, beket." Hit happid 
that william, gilbert bekettes man that was with hym while he was 
prisoner, knewe this mayde, and went to his maister beket and 
tolde hym howe the prynces doughter Amyrand stode atte his dore 
and much peple wonderyng on hir. And then he anone went to 

1 MS. he his. 



Legenda Aurea — L6gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 107 

hir. and when she se hym she fel a-sownyng, and lay as she had 
be dede. and then gilbert beket toke hir up and confortide hir in 
the best wise he cowde, and led hir into his howse, and bade his 
men give hir mete and drynke. 

And in the mene tyme gilbert went to seint Poulys churche, 
where ther were . vj . bishops atte that tyme. and then he tolde 
them of this wondyr, howe fer this hethyn maide was come and 
forsake al hir heritage, and to bycome cristen for his sake if he 
wolde wedde hir. . . . then anone she was baptized with the ful 
assent of al the byshops, and forthwith weddyde to the seid Gil- 
bert^ beket in the churche of Poulys with ful gret solempnyte 
. . . . (Gilberfs 2nd pilgrimage ^ and birth of Thomas). . . . and 
within a while aftir he set this holy childe Thomas to scole, wherein 
he encresid ful muche withyn fewe yeres, and drewe al to virtues 
{sic) lyvynge, that euery man spake goode of hym. . . . Than he 
bycome a worshipful mannys seruaunt of this Cite of london, aud 
kepte al his rekenyng. and his maister loued hym and trust hym 
ful muche for his trewe seruyce. and aftir that he dwellid with 
Tybaude, that was the Erchebyshop of Canturbury. and he loued 
hym so muche that he made hym his Erchedekyn and chefe of his 
counsel. . . . And then anone aftir the Duke of Normandye that 
hight bloys dyed ; and then was his sonne herry the secounde made 
kyng of Englonde ; and he made seint Thomas his Chaunceler. 

F. The Seven Sleepers. H. fol. 128 b; E. fol. 169 b; A. fol. 
141 b; h. fol. 213; D. (incompl.) fol. 79. 

Here endith the lyfe of Seinte Cristofore. And next folewinge 
biginneth the lyfe of the . vij . Slepers. Capitulo. lxxxxiiij.° 

The . vij .^ Slepers wer bore in the Cite of Ephesim. And whan 
Dacian ^ the Emperour come into Ephesim for the persecucion of 
cristen peple he commaundid to edifie the templis in the myddis'' of 
the Cite, so that alle myghte come with him to sacrifice to the 
ydollis. and made for to*^ seke alle the cristen, and lete bringe hem 

^ Words to — Gil. bis. 

*In h. the No. is inserted by reviser ; A. om. the Cite of. 

'/n h. reviser has changed to Decian, and elsewhere. 

*E. & h., middel (myddell). * Others om. for to ; A., above, to do sac. 



108 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

bounde, for to sacrifie or ellis to deye.^ so that eueryche^ were so 
aferde of peynes that the^ frende forsoke his frende, and the sone 
renyed his iFadir, and the ffader the sone. And than in that Cite 
were founde .vij . cristen of whom the names were:* Maximian, 
Malche, Martinian, Denys, Johan, Sypion/ and Constantyn. and 
whan thei saugh this persecucion thei had gret sorewe. and for thei 
wer the first in the Paleis dispisinge the sacrifice of ydollis thei hid 
hem in her hous, and were in fastinge and in prayer^ contynually. 
And than thei wer accusid afore '^ Dacian, and come thider; and 
verili thei were preuid cristen men.^ and than was there yeue to 
hem space of repentaunce® unto the comynge of Dacian. and in the 
mene tyme thei spendid al her Patrimonye amonge the pour peple, 
and toke counsel, and wente to^° the Mounte Selion. and there thei 
ordeyned hem to be more priueli ; and there thei hid hem longe 
tyme;^^ and one of her felishippe to ordeyne for her liflode. And 
whan he wente into the Cite he clothid him as^^ a begger. 

and whan Dacian was come into the Cite he lete seke hem. and 
than Malche, her ministre, returned ful of drede to hem, and tolde 
hem of the cruelte of the Emperour. and than wer thei gretli 
affraied.^^ But neuer the lees Malche set afore hem the brede that 
he had brought, so that whan thei wer wel confortid with mete thei 
myghte be strenger to tormentis.^* And whan thei had take her^* 
refeccion, as thei satte in sorowe and wepinge thei fil sodedli^^ (sic) 
aslepe, as god wold. And whan hit come to the morwe, and thei 
had be sought and myght not be founde, Dacian was ful sory that 
he had lost so goodli yonge men. And than thei wer accusid, how 
thei had yeue alle her goodis to pour men, and wer hid unto^^ that 
tyme in the Mounte of Selion, and abode alweie in her cristen pur- 

^E., bounde other to deye or to do sacrifice ; A., b. ether to dye or elles t. d. s. ; 
h., b. or to die or t. d. s. 

*E. and h., euery ; A., many oon; E., so sore aferde. 

^A., that oon f. forsoke another and. 

*All, weren. ^E., Sempion ; A., Sympyon ; A., Serapion. 

^A., prayng. ' Others, before (by- bi-). ^All, and v. proued C. men. 

^All, yeue hem {h., him) space to repente hem. 

^^A., un to. ^^All om. tyme. 

^*A., clothyd hym lyke a; the Belei MS. Ad. 17,275, /oZ. 171 6, has: il se uestoit 
en maniere de mire & le contrefesoit. 

^'^4., they were. ^*A. om. to tormentis. ^^ A. om. her. 

^^All, fillen sodenly ; A., yn a sorowe. ^''A. and h., yn to (into). 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende DoHe — Golden Legend, 109 

pos. And than Dacian lete calle her kynrede, and manasid hem 
with dethe but yf thei wolde telle al that thei knewe of hem. and 
thei accusid hem, and complejned on hem, seyinge that thei had 
dispendid alle her goodis in pour men. And than Dacian thoughte 
how^ he myghte do with hem; and ordeyned that thei shold be 
closid up in the Caue with stones, to that ende that thei myghte 
deye there for hunger and for^ sorwe. And than the werkemen 
that did that and . ij . cristen men, that is to wite Theodore and 
RufFyn, wrote her martirdome and put hitsotelli undir^ the stones. 
And whanne Dacian was ded, and al that generacion, . CCC . and ^ 
. Ixx vij . yer aftir, in the . xxx . wynter^ of the Empir of Theo- 
dosian, whan the heresie of hem that^ renyed the Resurreccion of 
the dede bygan to encrece, that^ the right cristen Emperour Theo- 
dosian whan he saugh the feithe to be so felonesli^ demened he was 
ful of sorowe, and clothid him with the heyre, and was in a secrete 
place, and wepte euery daye. and whan our pitous ® lord saugh this 
thinge he wold conforte the wepers and yeue hope of the ^^ Resur- 
reccion of the dede, and opened the tresour of his pite, and arerid 
the ^^ forseid martris in this wyse. He gaffe wil to a Burgeys of 
Ephesim that he wold make in that Mounteyne a stabul ^^ for his 
sheperdis. and so hit fel by auenture that the masons opened that 
Caue. and the seintes awoke than, and bade eche of hem othir good 
morwe, and wende that ^^ thei had slepte but one nyghte. and than 
thei recordid her" sorwe of the daye byfore. and Malche, that min- 
istred her necessites to hem, seide What Dacian ordeyned had for 
hem ; ^^ for he seide : " we haue be sought, as I tolde yowe yestir 
euen, for to sacrifice to the ydollis or ellis to deye." And than^^ 
Maximian seide: ''god wot that we wyl not^^ sacrifye to deie." 
and Maximian seide whan he had confortid his felawes he bad 
Malche that he shold go into the Cite and beye hem brede ; and 

^All, what. *E. om. for. ^All^ among. ^All. om. and. 

^All have, yere; A. omits in. ^MS., that, bis. ''All, than (ne). 

M. has, sat yn the filth to be so felously, etc, 1 

^ Others, whan oure peteus lorde god sawe; E. om., pitous; A., sawe that (om. 
thinge). ^^All om. the. "-4., thes. 

^*All, a stable [E., stale) to his ; A., yn the motayne. ^^AU om. that. 

^*A., the (ther ?) ^^All, decien hadde or. of hem {A., for us). ^^All om. than. 
^''All, neuer ; A., neuer do sacrifice to the Idolle, for we had leuer rather to dye. 



110 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^ — Golden Legend, 

that he brought hem more than he did bifore/ and espied ^ redli 
what the Emperour had ordeyned for hem. 

And than Malche toke . v. ^ s. and wente oute of the Caue. and 
whan he saughe alle the stones he had gret merueile ; but he thoughte 
but litil uppon ^ the stones : he thoughte moche more thinge.^ 
And than he come al dredful ^ to the yates of the Cite, and he was 
al abasshid, for he saugh the signe of the Crosse set theron. and 
than he*^ wente to anothir yate, and fonde^ the same token of the 
Crosse, and than he merueiled ouer mesure ; for vppon euery yate 
he fonde the signe of the Crosse, and than he blessid him, and re- 
turned ayen to the first yate, and wende that he had dremed.® and 
than he confermed him selfe, and hid his visage and entrid into 
the Cite, and whan he come to the sellers of brede, and he herde 
men ^" speke of god, And than ^^ was he more abasshid, and seid : 
" benedicite ! what meneth this ? yister day there durst no man 
speke of Jhu Crist, and to-daie euery man knowlecheth that they be 
cristen.^^ I trowe this is not the Cite of Ephesim ; for she is al 
other wyse byldid.'^ ^^ and than he asked ; and than thei tolde him 
sikerli that hit was Ephesim, than ^* him thought in him selfe ^^ that 
he maddid verili, and thought to haue go ayen to his felawes. 

And than he wente to hem that solde brede. And whan he 
shewed hem ^^ the money the sellers merueiled gretli, and seide that ^"^ 
one to that othir that this yonge man had founde ^^ som olde tresour. 
and whan Malche saugh hem speke togedris he drad ^^ lest thei wold 
lede hym to the Emperour, and praied hem that thei wolde ^^ lete 
him go, and kepe his money stille, and the brede also, but thei 

^E., thanne the day before, also h. ; A., And he b. m. t. he brought the day 
before. ^All, aspy. 

'il. & A., tolde; E. & A., v shyllingges (Schelynges). *Allf in the. 

^All, on other thinge(s). ^E., dredful ly. 

M. om., he ; A. & h., un to, into. ^E. & h. om., fonde. 

^E. & h., and went to haue dremed; A., and had wende to haue dremjd. 

^M.j herde hem. ^^All, god/yet was he. ^^A., ben Cristened. 

^^E., byled I note whiche and he asked and they ; A., for hit is alle o. w. beldyd 
I not howe And he askyd and they ; h., bildid, etc., like E. ^^All om. than. 

^^E. & h., hym selff verrely ; E., hadde maddyd ; E. <^h. om. verili below. 

"^^All om. hem. "J. om. that; E. & h., mervailedin. 

^^A., founde money of some olde conage or tresour. 

^^E. & h., dredde hym ; A., d. hym selfe lest they wolde haue lede. 

^A., hem to lete. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. Ill 

hilde him faste, and seide : " whens art thou ? hast thou fbunde 
tresours of the auncient Emperours ? ^ shewe vs wher hit is, that 
we mowe be felawes with the, and we shal kepe thi counsel/' and 
Malche wist not what for ^ to answer hem for dred that he had. 
And whan thei saugh that he held pees ^ they teyjed a corde * and 
drowe him thorgh the strete into the myddis of the Cite, and the 
tydinges wente al aboute ^ that a younge man had founde the olde 
Tresours,^ so that alle assemblid aboute him. and than^ euery man 
marueiled of him. but he wolde in no wyse confesse that he had 
founde eny tresours. and euery man bihilde him, but ^ he was knowe 
of none. And in that othir side he bihelde the peple, to loke yf 
he couthe knowe eny of his kynne, that he wende that ® had lyuid 
yit ; and he couthe none fynde, wherfore he was nyghe oute of him 
selfe for this gret merueile. and thus he stode al amasid amonge 
the ^° peple of the Cite. And whan seinte Martyn the Bisshop ^^ and 
Antepater that was Consulte, which was newe come to^^ the Cite, 
herde this thinge, thei sente anone that thei shold bringe wysely 
him ^^ into her presence, and that the money shold be brought with 
hym. 

And whan he was brought to the Chirche he wende verili that 
he shold haue come bifore the Emperour. And than the Bisshoppe 
and the Consulte merueiled hem of that^* money, and asked him 
where he had founde that tresour vn knowe. and he answerid and 
seide ^^ that he had no thinge founde, but that he had come by his 
kynrede. And also he seide : ^® "I wote wel that I was bore in 
this Cite, yf this be the Cite of Ephesim." And than seide the 
Juge^'^ to him : "how shold we leue the, that this^® come of thy 
kynrede, whan the scripture of the money sheweth that hit is 

^E. & h.f art thou/thou hast f. the tresour(es) of aunsien; A., art \>u that 
hast f. this tresour of an auncien Emperour. 

*All om. for. ' All^ his p. *J[., a corde to hym and. 

^A. & h. here and below, a bouth, abought. 

*E. & h., the hidde tresours; A., yong madde founde hyd tresoure. 

''E. & h., And whan ; A., And whan e. m. knewe that they meruelde on hym 
and he ; rest also, and he. ^All, and he. 

^All om. that. ^°^. & A., al the. ^^A. om. the B. 

^*A., the whiche A. &h., into the. ^^All, bringe hym wysely. 

^*A., meruelde on the; E. & h. of the. "^^All om. and seide. 

^^Ally And he ansuered and saide; A., yet I was. ^M/Z, the iuge saide. 

"^^All, this money. 



112 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 

passid . ccc . yer . Ixxvij . ^ that hit was made ? for hit wente in 
the firste daies of Dacian the Emperour, and resemblith no ^ thinge 
to our money, and how myght ^ hit be that thi kynne shold * be 
of suche age to lyue nowe? thou art but late bore, and woldist 
disceyue^ the wise^ and the auncien of the Cite of Ephesim. And 
therfore I commaunde that thou (be) demened^ aftir the lawes into 
the tyme that thou hast confessed that thow ^ hast founde." And 
than Malche knelid downe, and seide : " for goddis loue, my 
lordis,^ telle me o thinge that I shal aske of yowe.^*^ Where is 
Dacian the Emperour/^ that was in this Cite, where is he?" And 
the Bisshop answerid ^^ and seide : " sone, there is ^^ none nowe 
alyue that highte Dacian. there ^* was an Emperour that hight so 
meny wordlis ^^ (sic) passid." and than Malche seide : " of this I 
merueile ^^ me gretli. and there is none that leevith me. but foloweth 
me, and I shal she we yow ^^ my felawes, that be in the mounte of 
Silion ; and than I hope that ^^ ye wil leeve hem. for I wot wel 
that^^ we fled vs for drede of the Emperour ^^ Dacian. And I wot 
wel that yister nyghte I saugh ^^ the Emperour Dacian entre into 
this Cite, yf this be the Cite of Ephesym." 22 

And than the Bisshop bythought him selfe, and seide to the Juge 

^E., ccc yere Ixvij ; h., ccc yere Ix and vij ; the Belet MS. Ad. 17,275, fol. 
172 renders the whole better: Li preuost li dist: "fes uenir tes parens, qui tes- 
moingneront pour toi." & il les noma, & nuls ne les connut. et disoient que il le 
disoit pour barat, pour ce que il peust eschaper en aucune maniere. Le preuost 
li dist adonc : " coment te crorrons nous que ce soit de largent ton pere & ta mere, 
Qwant en lescripture decelui a iijc & Ixxvij ans, & soit du premier iour de decius ? " 

^E. & h., in no ; A., moneys ; Douce MS. begins, fol. 79 : nothinge ; oure, see 
above, p. 60. ^D., mygt. '*-4., kyn myght. 

*i)., >u art ; disceive. ^A., wise men and. 

''D.,\>er{ore; comaunde; >u; ^., ther I c. the that thou bedemened; E.&h., 
be demened. ^D., )>at \>u ; confessid i'at )>w. 

^A. om. my lordis ; h. om. my. 

^^D., J?at I ; gowe ; E. & h. om. of. "-D., Emperour. 

"^. A.& A., ansuered hym. ^^D., Hre; alyve; E., nys. 

^*i)., higte ; i>ere was an Emperour t>at higt. 

*'-£., many worlde ; A., many an olde day passyd ; the corrected h. like A.^ but 
om. an. ^^E., \>i& ; merveile ; and \>ere. "D., gow. 

i^D., >at se ; E. & h. om. that. ^^D., >at. 

^^D., here and below, Emperour. ^^D., hat gister nygte I sawe. 

^*A. & h., into the {h., )>is) C. of Ephesym, and om. final clause. ; D., Ephesim ; 
\>e Bisshop by Jjougt. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 113 

that this^ was som vision that god wold shewe by this yonge^ 
man. and than thei^ wente with him, and a gret multitude of* 
peple of the Cite folowed hem. And whan thei^ come thider 
Malche entrid first yn. and as the Bisshop wente he fonde amonge 
the stones the ^ lettris, selid with . i j . selis of siluer. And than 
the Bisshop ^ callid the peple and rad hem bifore hem alle, and 
alle wer ^ gretli abasshid of the meruelous ^ huringe. And than 
thei saugh these seintis sittynge, and her visages al fresshe as eny 
flour ^'^ of rose, wherfore al the peple glorified god. And anon 
the^^ Bisshop and the Juge sente to Theodosian the Emperour, 
prayinge him that he wolde^^ come and se the grete merueilis that 
god had shewed ^^ late. 

And whan the Emperour herde this^* massage, anone he aros 
for the erthe, and did awey the (sak) ^^ wheron he wepte, and glo- 
rified god, and came fro Constantinople to Ephesim. and al the 
Cite wente ayenst him, and alle come ayenst him and^^ come to the 
Mounteyn, where he ^^ entrid into the Caue, and as sone as the 
seintis saugh ^^ the Emperour her facis shyned as the sonne. And 
whan the Emperour saugh ^^ this he glorified god, and clippid hem, 
and wepte vppon eueryche^*^ of hem, and seide : "I behold yowe 
as though I saughe^^ our lord areyse Lazar fro dethe to lyfe.'^ And 
than Maximian seide : " Leeue vs truli, ser Emperour, that for thi 
lone our lord ^^ hath arered vs byfore the day of the^^ Resurrec- 
cion, for thou sholdist stedfastli byleue the Resurreccion of the 
dede that be ^^ to come. And verili we be resussitid and lyue. and 

^D., )>at this ; J>at. ^D.j >is gonge. ^D., )?ei. 

'^A., of the peple of t. C. and folowed hym. ^D., j^ei ; Hder. 

^Z>., l>e. 'i)., >e Bisshop ; others merely, he called. 

®Z>,, were ; E. & h., weren. ^i)., mervelous ; \>ei sawge >ese. 

'"Z)., floure ; A. & h., as fresche. ^^A. om. the ; D., >e Juge ; ]>e Emperour. 

'^D., I^at ; wold ; merveilis ; rest, wold come see. 

^^E. A.&h., now late. ^^B., Ms. 

'*jEZ. tfe D. both om.f leaving a blank space in D., filled by paragraph sign in H; in 
E., A. & h., sacke (sakke, sak) wher yn; A. om. and - God. 

^^D., agenst, both; E. om. the Cite ; A. & h., and alle went a. h. and come to, no 
repetition. "jR, A. & h., they. ^^D., Cave; sawge the Emperoure, and below. 

^^D., sawge. ^°/i., uppon euerech uppon hem and. 

'^Z)., gowe as ^ouge I sauge oure. 

'^D., maximian ; Emperoure; H; oure; ^., oure lorde god. 

^^A. om. the; i)., J^e; \>u. **jD., )>at; A., is to. 

8 



114 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorte — Golden Legend. 

right as ^ the Child is in the modris wombe withoute felinge or 
disese, right so we haue be her^ lyvinge and slepinge withoute 
eny disese felinge."^ 

And whan thei had thus^ seid thei bowed downe her hedis to 
the erthe and gafe her spiritis vp,^ by the com maun dement of god. 
And than the Emperour^ arose, and fil vppon hem, and wepte, 
and kyssid hem, and wente his wey, and commaundid that^ men 
shold ordeyne Shrynes of gold and syluer to leye hem ynne. and 
that same nyght thei apperid ^ to the Emperour and seide to him ^ 
that he shold suffre hem lie^^ in the erthe as thei had done, vnto 
the tyme that god liste to rere hem ayen.^^ And than the Emperour 
commaundid that the^^ place shold be araied nobilli with stones, 
and that^^ alle Bisshopes that wolde confesse the Resurreccion were 
assoiled : and hit was done, and of that hit is seid they slepte ^* 
. ccc . Ixxvij . yer, and '^ thei arisen the yer of our lord . cccc . 
xlviij . and Dacian regned but one yer ^^ only and . iiij . monthis, 
and that was in the yer of our lord . cc . lij . and so by this they ^^ 
shold not slepe but an . c . iiij^"" . and ^^ . xiij . yer. 

Her endith the lyfe of the ^^ . vij . Slepers. 

G, St. Marine. A. fol. 114; E. fol. 124 b; D. fol. 65 b. 

Seynt Maryne was a noble uyrgyn, and was oonly with hir fader, 
without brother or suster. And hir fader aftir the deth of hir 

^A.^ resuscite And beleue veryly that right as ; D., lyve ; rijt, and below. 

^D., here. ^A., ben here leuyng withoute disese and slepyng wj't^oute felyng. 

^D., they ; >us ; >ei ; j'e erthe. 

^E., A. &h.., gaue up her; D., gafe; by >e comaundement. 

^D., Emperoure. '^i)., comaundid j?at. 

^7>., nygt >ei aperid; Emperoure; others am. same. 

^E. & h. om. to; A. om. to him. ^^A., to ly; -D., in }>e; as }>ei. 

^^J)., tyme >at; agen; E., unto tyme, and h., into tyme. 

^^Z)., >e Emperoure comaundid that >e. "Z)., Jjat. 

^*E., A. & h., weren assoiled : it is done, of that is sayde that they slepen ; J)., 
and of ]7at, like H. 

^'^E.f A. & h., for; A., ccc and Ix and xvij yere, for they arose in; Z)., gere, 
both ; pei ; oure ; h., yere afore oure lorde ! 

^^D., in all cases, gere. ^''D. ))ei, initial th also thus below; oure lord. 

^^E. & h. om. and; A., an c iiij score and. 

^^E. & h. om. the ; A., the lyues of the. St. Marine. I do not pretend to give 
all variants. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dorie — Golden Legend. 115 

moder Enteryd into a monastery of monkes, and chaunged the 
clothyug of his doughter so ])at men wende that she had ben his 
sone. And than the fader prayed the abot of the hous & the 
monkes that they wolde receyue his sone as a monke, for he ^ had 
no mo childerii. And they grauntyd hyra goodly ; and she was 
<;allyd among hem brother Maryne. And she bygan to leue reli- 
giously, and was att alle obedyent. And whan she was atte^ age 
of . xxvij . yere hir fader felt hym seke ny to the deth. He callyd 
his doughter to hym, and conferraed hir in hir^ goode purpos, and 
charged her upon his blessyng that sche schulde neuer diskeuer hit 
to no creature that sche was a woman. And so he dyed, and sche 
abode in hir holy purpos. And contynued hir selfe* as an holy 
monke, Unknowyng to alle creatures that she was a woman. 

And than it felle so that she went ofte tymes with other monkes 
to the wode with hir carte and hir oxyn, for to bring home wode 
unto^ hir monastery. And hir costome was when he (sic) went 
so to herberowe hem at a frankelyns ® hous, whiche had a doughter 
that had conceyued a chylde by a knyght. And whan hit was 
parceyued than ^ she was aresonyd who was the fader. She said 
surely that hit was the monke Maryne, the whiche hade goten hir 
with childe. Whan the fader and the moder herd this, they went 
to the abot and made an horrible clamor^ upon hym for his monke. 
the abot, hauyng gret schame and sorowe for the^ foule clamor, 
sent for maryne, and askyd how ^^ he had done so horribly synne. 
He mekely ansuered and said : " holy fader, I aske oure lorde 
mercy, for I haue synned." The abbot, heryng this, was out of 
hym selfe for sorowe and schame, and coraaundid that he schulde 
schamfully be put out of hir monastery. He paciently abode with- 
oute, and dwellyd stille att the ^^ yate . iij . yere. And unnethes they 
threwe ^^ hym a morsellle of bred in a day. 

^E. om. he. ^E., of the age. ^E. om. hir. *E., her lyff. 

^E.j wode to her. ^E., herburgh hym in a frankeleyne his hous. 

''•E., parceyued and that she. ^E.^ an opin clamour. ^E., this. 

^^E.f maurin and asked hym whi he hadde do so horrible a. 
^^MS. om.; E., atte the. ^^E., drewe. 



116 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend, 



H. St. Marine. Ya. fol. 127; Yr. fol. 146 b; Yo. fol. 123. 

Marine est dite ^ aussi comme ensamble aueuc marie. Elle en- 
samble {sic) aueuc la vierge marie par ceqwe elle garda^ virginite^ 
hurailite, et pascience. 

Marine fu vierge, et fu une seulle fille auec son pere. Et son 
pere apres la mort de sa femme entra en . i . moustier, et mua 
lahit^ de sa fille si que len cuidoit miex que ce fust homme que 
femme. Et dont deproia le pere labbe & les peres que il receussent 
son filz, et que il nen auoit plus ; et illi ottroierent ; & fu receu en 
moine, Et fu^ appelez de tons frere marin. Et dont commenca a 
viure mowlt religieusement et estre obedient. Et quant elle fu de 
. xxvij . ans, et le ^ pere se senti ^ aprochier de mort, il apela sa 
fille & la confrema^ en bon pi^rpos, et li commanda que elle ne 
reuelast a nul que elle fust femme. 

Et dont elle aloit souuent auec le char et auec les buefs pour 
aporter la busche au moustier. Et elle auoit a coustume quant elle 
aloit la a soi herbergier^ en la maison dun homme ou il auoit une 
fille qui auoit conceu . i . enfant dun cheualiev, Et quant on li 
demanda de qui cestoit, elle dist que le moine marin lauoit corrom- 
pue. Et dont demanda len a marin pour quoi il auoit fait si grant 
pechie. et il dist quil auoit pechie, et requist pardon. Et tantost 
il fu gettes hors du moustier, et maint a luis du moustier, et demora 
la trois ans. Et nauoit que . i . morsel de pain le iour. 

J. Saint Patrick. H. fol. 64 b ; E. fol. 69 ; A. fol. 95 ; 

h. fol. 94. 

Seynt Patrik bygan to preche about the yer of our lord . iiij .^ 
iiij"^"^ . and as he preched the passion of our lord^ Jhu Crist to the 
kynge of Scotland,^" he stod by fore hym, and lened uppon hi& 
borden ^^ that he helde^^ in his bond, and this^^ was parauentur 

^ Vr., si est ditte. ^ Vr., regarda. ^MS. has, sa vie ; Vr., labit. 

^ Vr., estoit appele. ^ Vr., son. ^ Vo., senti pres de. ' Vr., conferma. 

^ Order changed in Vr., a soi hebergier quant ele aloit la. St. Patrick. 
^Others omit our lord. ^°A. has been cor. to, Ireland. ^^A. omits. 

^^MS. heled, with partial erasure; rest, helde. ^^A., he was ; h., hit was. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor^ — Golden Legend. 117 

uppon the fote of the kynge. and the poynt of the borden perced ^ 
the kinges fote. and than the kynge wende that the holy Bisshop 
had do ^ hit wetingli, and other wayes he myght not resceyue the 
feithe but if he suffred so for Jhu Crist ; And therfore he suffred 
hit pacientli. And than at^ last the holy man conceyued this 
thinge, and ^ was al abasshed ; and than anone he helid the kynge 
by his prayers, and he gate to that prouynce that no venemous 
bestis myght leue therynne. and yit he gate more, and the lepres 
of that contre be holsom ayenst venym.^ 

Ther was a man that had stole a shepe fro a neyjbore of his and 
€te hit. and the holy man® ofte tymes had spoke ^ amonge the 
peple in the chirch, that whoso had ^ do that dede shold make satis- 
faccion. but none was do, ne none wold knowleche hit^^ priuely 
ne openly. And whan al the peple was assembled in ^^ a tyme in 
the cliirch this holy man commaundid, in the name of Jhu Crist, 
that the shepe sholde blete ^^ withy nne the bely of him that ete^^ him : 
and so he dyde. And he that was gilti did penaunce.^^ he had in 
custom to worship alle the Crosses deuoutly that he sawe.^* But in 
a tyme he passed by a fayre Crosse that he toke none hede of, but 
passid ouer.^^ And his men asked him why he had not byholde 
this ^® crosse. And whan he prayed he herde a voyce undir the 
erthe that ^^ seyde : '* thou hast not byholde me for I am an ^^ hethyn 
man that am buried her, and am not worthi to see the signe of the 
crosse." ^^ and than he made the^*' crosse to be take awey. 

^h., p^rshed. ^MS. omits; E., hadde done it; A. & h., had do it. 

^A., attejje. ^^. (fe A., that /or and. 

^E., more, that the trees and the lether of that contre bene ; A., teeres & the 
lepour ; h., teeres and the leprs. ^h. omits ma,n, but in marg. 

''E. & h., hadde often tymes spoken; A., had often tyme spoken. 

M., who euer had ; h., who so that hadde (doo, marg.). 

^3fS. omits; A. has, wolde knowleched hit neither pryveyly, etc. In h. the 
saint is Patriark ; but such mere orthographic variants are unnoted. 

^^A., on a tyme. ^^MS. has, wold; others, shulde blede. 

*' A., withynne \>e body of him that hadde ete. 

^^A., and so he dide penaunce that was gilty. And had in, ete. 

^*A., crosses that he seigh right deuoutly. 

^^A., passed forthby. And his, etc. 

^^ Others, that c. ; A. omits, him ; whi that he hadde, etc. 

"MS. has, and; others, that; A., that seid to hym. ^^ h. omits, an. 

"^., worthi of the signe ; A., worthy to haue the ; h. like E. ^^Others, that. 



118 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Doree — Golden Legend, 

And this blessid Seynt Patrik preched in Irelond, and did litel 
frute amonge hem. he prayed to ^ our lorde that he wold shewe 
som tokyn by the whiche thei myght be adredde and repent hem.^ 
And than by the commaundement of our lord he made in a^ place 
a gret sercle wyth his staff, and than the erthe opned withynne the 
sercle, and there appered a gret pytte and a depe. and than hit was 
shewed to the blessid Patrik that there was a place of Purgatory ; 
And whosoeuer wold go downe there he shold haue non othir pe- 
naunce, no non othir harme haue for her synnes/ and meny come 
not ayen that went thedir. And thoo that com ayen most abide 
there fro on raorwe to anothir. 

and than longe tyme aftir, whan Seynt '^ Patrik was ded^ 
there was a man that hyght Nicholas, the which had do many 
synnes. but he repentid him, and wold suffer to be purged in 
the purgatory of seynt Patrik. and so as custom was that othir 
did : he fasted . xv . dayes bifore that he made the dores to be 
undo of that purgatory, the whiche is kept in an Abbey undir 
keye.^ And than he descendid into the pit.^ and in the side 
of the pit^ he founde a dore, and^ entred withynne. and there he 
founde an oratory ; and ^^ monkes that were reuest in Abbayes en- 
tred there to that oratory and did her seruyse. And than ^^ thei 
seide to Nicholas that he shold be sad and stedfast in the feythe, 
for him byhoueth to passe by many hard assayes of the ^^ fendis. 
and than he asked hem what remedi and help^^ he myght haue 
ayenst hem, they seid : " as sone as thou felest the turmentid 
wyth peynes, sey anone,^* Jhu Cristej fili dei viui, miserere michi 
peccatori." 

And anone as these men were go the fendis come and bade 
him to obeye hem, and made^^ him gret promys yf he wold do^^. 
hit, that thei wold kepe him and brynge him ayen to his owne 

^Others omit to. ^A., myght be agast and repent hym. 

M. omits, a. '^E. & h., haue none other p. fele ne, etc. 

^A., whan seint p. come ayen ther was, etc. ^A., under lok and key. 

''A., that pitte. ^Others, that. M., and he. 

^^MS. has, of ; others, oratori and monkes ; E.,m aubys entred in to ; h., in Abeys 
entred into ; A., (monkes) that were reuesshed entred in to, etc. 
^^A.. And thei seid. ^^h. omits, the. 

^^A. omits, and help; haue to helpe hym ayenst them. 
^*A., sey anone thise wordes. ^^A., and they made. ^^E. omits, do 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende DorSe — Golden Legend. 119 

place. But whan he wold not obey to hem ^ in no wyse, than he 
herde^ voyce of dyuerse wylde bestis, and the cryinge of hem 
togeders^ semyd as though alle the elementis had falle downe. 
and as he trembled for drede orrible he seid : * " Jhii CWste, fili 
dei viui, miserere mihi peccatori." And as sone as he had seid 
these wordis al that multitude of the horribil bestis aplesed.^ and 
than he went ouer to anothir place, and there he founde a gret 
multitude of enemyes : ^ " Wenest thou that thou be ascaped fro 
us?^ nay, thenke® hit not, but knowe wel® we shal begynne to 
turment the." And than there apperid a gret multitude ^^ and an 
horrible fyre byfore him : " " yf thou wylt not consent to us, we 
shal throwe the in this fyre brennynge." ^^ and whan he refused hit 
thei toke him and '^ cast him in that dredful fyre. and whan he 
felt him self turmentid, anone he cryed : ^^ " Jhu CHste, fili dei viui, 
miserere michi peccatori." and than anone ^^ the fyre quenched. And 
fro thens he went into anothir place and seigh ^^ Som men brenne 
in the fyr al quycke. and fro thens he went into anothir place to 
be bete with pecis al of Iren brennyng, and the bodyes ^^ to-rent 
with tonges of fyre,^^ that the bowels appered. and hadden her ^* 
belyes toward the erthe, and gnewe the erthe for sorwe and wo, 
and^^ cryed peteuously : "spare us, spare us." and than the fendes^^ 
bete him more greuousli. And he sawe othir of whom the ^^ ser- 
pentis deuoured her membres, and feendes^^ drewe here bowels 

^E, omits, to hem. ^E. & A., the voys. 

'"^E. & h,, criengges ; A., that hit semyd as al the, etc. 

*E. & h., trembeled all for the horrible drede he seid ; A., for the horrible 
drede that he herde and seigh than he seid thus. 

^E., were apesed ; A., were aplesed ; h., were apesed [And l>an he went ouer to 
a noJ>er place and l^ere he founde a grete multitude of J?e {bis) horrible bestes 
were apesed] ; all in brackets erased & repeated correctly on reverse, top offol. 95 b. 

^A., enemyes. and than thei seid to hym. Wenest, etc.; h. had same as H., hut 
in marg. bef. wenest is inserted, \>at sayde. ''A., fro us this. ^& 

^A., thyng hit not. But nowe we schul, etc.; E. & h., think; then like A. 

^^E., A. & h. omit multitude. '^ h. adds after him, in marg., & >ay sayde. 

^^A., fire that is hote brennyng. ^^A., and they. ^* Others, he cried anone. 

^^E. omits, anone. ^^MS. has, seid ; also E. & h. ; A., seigh. 

^''E., al quik and to beten with peces of Iren; h., al quik and to be beten, etc.; 
A., al quycke and thei were beten with p. of Iron al brennyng and ther, etc. 

^^A , al fire that her. ^^E. & h., and hadden; A., her belyes was towarde. 

^^A., and thei. '^'E., fendes; E. & A., bete hem. 'M. omits, the. 

^'^E. & h., bufones drew ; A., vufones. 



120 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

aboute with her brennynge prick es. And whan Nycholas wold not 
assent to hem he was ^ cast in the same fyre and in the same tur- 
mentis.^ bilt he was anone delyuered of that peyne. and aftir that 
he was led to a place wher men wer fryed in a panne by bemys^ 
of fyre. 

And there was a gret whele ful of fyre, and theron wer these ^ 
men hanged by dyuerse membres. and whan she was hastely 
turned she threwe out bemys^ of fyre. and aftir that he sawe a 
gret hous that was ful of boylinge lede and othir metallis by pittis.^ 
In the which pittis^ some had on foote, some had . ij . Othir ^ wer 
with ynne unto the knees ; othir unto the bely ; some to the brest ; 
some to the necke ; and some to the eyen. and in rennyng thorugh 
the turmentis * he called the name of our lorde. and ^° he passid 
ouer, and by held withy nne a depe pyt, of ^^ the which ther went 
out a foule ^^ smoke and a styncke that none ^^ myght suffer the 
odour therof. and out of that place come men brennynge as bote 
Iron, in manere of ^* sparkis of brennynge ^^ fyre. but the feendis 
anone threwe him yn ay en. and the feendis seid ^^ to him : " this 
place that thou byholdist is helle, wher belsabub oure maister dwel- 
lyth. In this pyt we shal nowe cast the yf thou wil not consent 
to us. and be thou onys there thou mayst neuer ascape, for there is 
no remedy." ^^ and than he despised hem, and wold not obeye hem, 
thei ^^ toke him and threwe him into the pyt, wher he felt so gret 
turment and sorwe that he had ny foryete the name of our lord ; 
but as sone as hit came to his mynde he seid hit in his herte, for 

^A., not consent to hem they cast hym ; h. omits, was; cor. in marg. 

^Others, torment. ^A., by the lemes of fire; E. <fe A., by lemes of. 

*A., were dyuerse men honged. 

^A., And she was right h. t. And than she t. o. gret lemes; E., lemes; A., 
threwe (hem margin) oute lemes. 

^E. & h. om., lede and othir, and the ; A. oni. former, ''A., pitte. 

^E. & L, and some hadde tweyne; A., and s. h. tweyen. And other w. in the 
pittes un to. ^Others, alle these tormentes. 

'M., and he ; and than he byheld ; E., and he behelde. 

^^ Offers om. the ; ^., pyt oute of whiche. ^^A. om. a. 

^'^E., no man ; A., and suche a s. t. no ma?*. 

^*A. om. men, has: come as brennyng as; in maner as. 

^^A., of the brennyng fire. And the. ^^A., And ihei seid. 

"^. & h., nys no. ^^A., And than thei. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 121 

he myght not speke for peyne ; and anone he went out all hole, and 
al that multitude^ of fendis fledde away as ouercome. 

And than he was led to a place uppon a brygge ^ that was right 
streyte, and polysshed as glasse, and as slepir as yse y-frore,^ undir 
the which brygge there ranne a flood of ^ fyre and brymstone. and 
thanne he was in despeir how eu6r he myght passe ouer. and at ^ last 
he by thought him of that wordis ^ that had delyuered him fro so ^ 
meny pe7-ellis, and went with good trust forthe, and set his fote uppon 
the brygge, and ^ seyde his prayer, and than an horrible and ^ dred- 
ful crye made him aferde, that unnethe he myght susteyne hym.^® 
but alway he seid his prayer and was all sure, and so he went 
forthe ; and at euery foot ^^ he made his prayer, and passed ^^ surly. 
and whan he had passed oner he come into a fayre mede, wher ^^ was 
a ^* meruelous odour of dyuerse floures. and than he sawe . ij . 
fayre ^^ yonge men that appered to him and led him into a noble 
Cite merueilous,^^ shynyng with gold and preciouse stones. Oute 
of the yate of that Cite there came a meruelous swete odour that 
conforted him so that hit semed him that he had neuer felt sorwe, 
ne smert, ne styncke, ne ^"^ desese. and than thei tolde him that hit 
was the Cite of paradise.^^ And as Nicholas wold haue entred 
withynne, the yong men seid to him that he most turne ayen to 
his mayne, and by alle the places that he cam by : " but the feendis 
shal ^^ in no wyse mysdo the, but fie fro the^° dredfuUi whereuer 
thei see the.'^^^ And . xxx . dayes aftir he shold rest in our lord, 
and thanne shal he entir into the^^ Cite as a perpetuel cytezeine. 
And than ^^ Nicholas went by the same wayes that he cam ^* fro ; 

^A.^ corapanye. 

^Others, brigge that he most nedes passe ouer, and that b. was, etc. 

^E., y frosen ; A , that is frozen ; h., Ifrorenne. 

*E. omits of; in h., inserted in marg. ^Others, atte the laste. 

^Others, that worde. M. omits so. ®-4., and he seid. 

^B. & A., and a dredfull. ^M., hym self. 

^^E. & h., atte eueri pase (pace); A., place. 

^^A., p. forth surly ; E., (whan he) was pa. ouer. 

^^Others, wher ther, ^^E. & h., omit a. ^^E. &. h., two right faire. 

^^Others, merueilously. ^''E.^ ne none disese; A., ne no disesse ; h., smert 

in stinke ne no disese. ^^ Others, that that Cite was paradise. '^A., shold. 

''''O^Aers, mysdo hym, and, fle fro hym. ^^E. & h., where they see hym ; 

A., in what place thei seen hym. And with in, etc. ^'Others, that. 

*M., And whan. ^'*E. & h., waye that he was come; A., way that he come 

by byfore. 



122 Legend a Aurea — LSgende DoHe — Golden Legend, 

and founde him self uppon the pytte ; and told hit^ to the pepil 
as hit was byfalle him. and . xxx . dayes aftir he rested goodly in 
our lord. Here endith the Lyf of Seynt Patrik. 

/. St. Patrice. Yr. fol. 90; Vf. fol. 83; Va. fol. 77. 

Patrice est dist ausi comme pere sachant ; quar par la volente de 
ihucrist il sot les sacres de paradis et denfer. [ F/*; Ci comence 
lexpurgatoire saint patrice, la on aucuns sont aucune foiz entrez.] 
Saint Patrice commenca a prechier environ Ian de no^re seigneur 

. ccc . & . iiij . & si comme il pr^'schoit la passion ihu crist au roi 
des escos il sestoit deuant li, & sapuoit sus son bourdon que il tenoit 
en sa main ; & ele estoit par auenture sus le pie du roy ; & la 
pointe du bourdon perca le pie du roi ;^ & done le roi cuida que le 
saint euesque le feist a escient, & que autrement le roy ne porroit 
receuoir la foy, se il ne soufroit ausi pour ihucrist ; si le soufri en 
pacience. et done en lapfin^ le saint eutendi ceste chose, & fu 
esbahi, et gueri le roy par ses prieres. Et si gaagna a cele^ prouince 
que nulle venimeuse beste ni pent viure. Et encore gaagna il plus ; 
quar les fus & les cuiers de cele contree sont contraires a venim. 

Un home auoit emble une ouaille a . i . sien voisin, <fe lauoit 
mengiee. et le saint prioit a leglise que quiconques lauoit emblee en 
feist satisfacion ; & par pluseurs fois, & nul ne se comparoit. Et 
quant tout le peuple fu assemble a leglise, il commanda, par la vertu 
de ihucrist, que louaille bellast dedens le ventre ou ele auoit este 
mengiee : & ainsi fu fait. & cil qui estoit coupable fist penitence. 

II auoit de coustume a aourer toutes les crois que il veoit denote- 
ment, mes il passa auant une bele croiz, que il ne regarda pas, mes 
passa outre. & sa gent li demanderent, pour quoi il nauoit regard 
a cele croiz ? Et quant il out oure il oi une vols desous terre, qui 
dist : ^' Tu ne mas pas regarde que ie sui . i . paien ci enseueli, & 
ne sui pas digne du signe de la croiz.^' et done fist il cele croiz 
ester de la. 

Si comme le benoit patrice preschoit en irlande^^ & il feist la pou de 
fruit, il depria no^re seigneur que il demonstrat aucun signe par le 

^E. & A., And tolde to alle the; -4., & he tolde to al the. 

^ Miniature in Vf. represents this ; the king has crossed his legs, to save one 
foot. I omit minor variants. ^ Vf., en la parjBn. ^ MS. om. a cele ; in Vf. 
^ MS. illande ; Vf, irlande. 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Doree — Golden Legend. 123 

quel il fussent espuantes & se repentissent. Et done il fist par le 
commandement de notre seigneur . i . grant cerue en . i . lieu de son 
baston. & la terre saouuri dedens ce cerne, & fist la^ausi comme . i . 
tresgrant puis & parfont. et done fu reuele an benoit patrice que 
cestoit la . i . lieu dexpurgatoire, & que ^ quieonques voudroit illec 
descendre il naroit autre penitance, ne ne sentiroit autre mal pour 
son peehie, & que pluseurs nen retorneroient mie; & eil qui en 
reuendroient il couueildroit demorer la de lun matin iusques a lautre. 
Et done moult de telz i entrerent qui ne reuindrent puis. 

.Et apres lone temps, puis que patrice fu mort, . i . home noble, 
nieolas par non, qui auoit fait moult de peehiez, si sen repenti, & 
voult soustenir lexpurgatoire saint patriee. & si comme les autres 
faisoient il jeuna . xv . iours auant (sic). II fist ouurir luis de lex- 
purgatoire, qui est garde en une abbaie sous clef, & descendi en 
deuant dit puis. & eP eoste de ee puis il trouua .i . huis, & entra 
dedens, & la trouua . i . oratoire. & moines reuestus en aubes entre- 
rent en eel oratoire & firent leur seruise ; & distrent a nieolas que il 
fust ferme, quar il couuendroient que il passast par moult des 
essaiemens du * deable. & si comme il leur demanda quele aide il 
porroit ^ 2iUoir eontre eulz, illi distrent: "Quant tu te sentiras 
tormenter es poines, di tantost & crie : Ihuerist, filz de dauid, aies 
pitie de moi pechieur." 

Et tantost comme ees homes sen partirent les deables vindrent, 
& lamonesterent que il leur obeisist, premlerement par promesses 
et par beles paroles; et que il le garderoient & ramenroient a ses 
propres Hex. mes quant il ne voult obeir a eulz en nulle maniere, 
tantost il oi les voiz de diuerses bestes sauages & les imnemens ^ 
ensemble, ausi comme se tons les elemens tremblassent. & si comme 
il trembloit tout par horrible pouour, il dist : " Ihuerist, filz de 
dieu vif,"^ aies pitie de moi peeheur.^' Et tantost comme il seseria 
toute cele tumulte de bestes sauuages et horribles sapesa. Et done 
il ala outre a . i . autre lieu. & la estoit grant multitude danemis, 
qui li distrent: "cuides tu que tu nous soies eschape? nennin, 
mes te commeneeron plus a tormenter." Et done apparut . i . tres 

1 MS. om. ; in Vf. ^ MS. om.; Vf., & qui en. 

' MS. en ; Vf., el. * MS. de ; Vf., du. ^ MS. q aide il pouoit; Vf, porroit. 
^ Or muimens ? Vf. has riragement (?) ; Va. & Vff., muemens, = Lat. mugitus. 
'MS. om. ; in Vf. 



124 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

grant feu horrible deuant li, & les deables li distrent : " si tu ne 
tacordes a nous, nous te ieteron ardoir en ce feu." et quant il les^ 
refusa, il le pristrent & ieterent en eel espuantable feu. et quant il 
se consenti^ tormente illec il sescria tantost: "Ihucnst, filz de dieu 
vif, aiez pitie de moi pecheur.'' et tantost ce feu fu estaint. 

Et de la vint en . i . autre lieu, et vit aucuns homes ardoir en feu 
tons vis, & estre batus de pieces de fer ardans & rouges, iusques a 
tant que les entrailles paroient. & estoient le ventre vers terre, et 
mordoient la terre par douleur, & crioient : " espargne nous, es- 
pargne!" & les deables adonc les batoient plus griement. & vit 
autrez des quelz serpens deuoroient les membres, & les botereaus 
leur traioient les entrailles de leur aguillons. et quant nicholas ne 
se voult consentir a eulz il fu iete en ce meisme feu & en ces poines, 
<fe fu tormeute de ces pieces de fer & de ces poines. mes^ il dist 
adonc : ^' Ihucrist, filz de dieu le vif, aiez pitie de moi pecheur." 
& il fu tantost deliure de la dite poine. 

Et apres ce il fu mene a . i . lieu ou les homes estoient fris en 
une paiele par motes. & la estoit une tres grant roe plaine de feu, 
& la estoient ces homes pendus par diners membres. & quant ele 
estoit hastiuement tornee ele metoit hors une mote de feu. & apres 
ce il vit une tres grant meson, qui estoit plaine de fosses plaines de 
melalz^ bouillanz, es queles fosses aucun auoit . i . pie, & lautre . ij . ; 
lautre estoit dedens iusques aus genous ; lautre iusques au ventre ; 
lautre iusques a la poitrine; lautre iusques au col ; lautre iusqwes 
aus iex. & en courant par tons ces tormens il apeloit le non de no^re 
seigneur. II ala outre & regarda dedens . i . puis tres let, duquel 
il issoit une horrible fumee, et & (sic) une pueur que nul ne pouoit 
soufrir. et de la issoient homes ardans comme fer chaut, en maniere 
de falemesces ^ ou estenceles ; mes les deables les rampaignoient arri- 
ere. et les deables li^ distrent ; " ce lieu que tu regarde est enfer, en 
quel belzebus nostre seigneur habite. en ce puis te ieteron nous, se 
tu ne te veulz consentir a nous. & puis que tu seras iete la tu naras 
nul remede deschaper." et quant il les despisoit et ne vouloit obeir, 
il le pristrent et ieterent el"^ puis. & la out si tres grant douleur que il 
a bien pou oblia le non no^re seigneur a requerre ; mes tantost comme 
il reuint a li & il dist sa proiere dedens son cuer, que par vois ne 

^ Vf. has leur. ^Vf.,se senti. ^MS. om.; in Vf. * Vf. om. de metalz. 

^ Vf., flarnesches. ^MS. si ; Vf., li. ''MS. en ; Vf el. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 125 

la pouoit il dire, il issi tantost tout sain de la, & toute la multitude 
des deables sen ala comme vaincue. 

Et done il fu mene a . i . autre lieu, a . i . pont, sus lequel il le 
conuenoit passer. & ce pont estoit tres estroit, & ausi poll comme 
glace, & tout estoillant ; sous lequel pont il couroit . i . fleuue de 
feu & de soufre. et il se desesperoit dutout comment il porroit passer 
par desus. et en lapfin il se recorda de la parole qui lauoit oste de 
tant de mauls, et ala en bone fiance auant, & mist . i . pie sus ce 
pont, & dist la proiere. & done un cri & une tres forte noise lespu- 
anta si que a poine se pouoit il soustenir. mes toute foiz il dist sa 
proiere & fu tout seur. Et done mist lautre pie apres, & recom- 
menca sa proiere ; & a chascun pas il la disoit, et passa ainsi seure- 
ment. Et quant il fu passe il vint en . i . tres biau pre, la ou il 
auoit ^ merueilleuse oudeur de diuerses fleurs. Et done vit . ij . 
tres beaus iouuenceaus, qui sapparurent a li & lamenerent iusques 
a une tres noble cite, merueilleusement resplendissant dor & de 
precieuses pierres. & de la porte de cele ci7e^ issoit merueilleuse 
oudeur, qm le reconforta si que il li estoit ains que il nauoit onques 
sentu ne douleur ne pueur. et done li distrent que cele cite estoit 
paradis. et si comme nicholas voult entrer dedens, les iouuenceaus 
li distrent que il retorneroit premierement a ses gens, et que il le 
couuenoit retorner par les lieux par la^ ou il estoit venu; mes toute 
fois les deables ne li mefferoient point, mes sen fuiroient tous 
espuantes quant il le verroient. et que . xxx . iours apres ce il 
reposeroit en dieu, et done entreroit en cele cite comme citoien 
perpetuel. Et done nicholas monta par le lieu ou il estoit descendu, 
& se troua desus le puis, & raconta a tous ce que li estoit auenu. 
et . xxx . iours apres il reposa bonement en no^re seigneur. 

K. St. Patrice. Printed Yignay, fol. 112. 

Patrice est dit comme sachant ; car par la volente de dieu il sceut 
les secretz de la ioie de paradis, et vit partie des paines denfer. 

Saint patrice ung iour preschoit de la souffrance de ihu crist par 
deuant le roy descoche, et sur sa croche sapoioit /aduint par auenture 
qitil mist le debout de sa croche sur le piet du roy, et le piet 
trespercha de son bourdon /le roy cuida q st. patrice eut ce fait tout 

^MS. has a ; Vf.f auoit. * MS. omits ; in Vf. ' Vf. om. par la. 



126 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

de gre, pour lui mouuoir plits tost a la foy de dieu. mais patrice 
se perchut de ce q fait estoit, moult esbahi en fut/et par ses oroisous 
le roy gari. Et auec ce il impetra a nfe seignewr q nulle beste 
veuinieuse ne peuist iamais en celui pais viure/ 

Aduint q ung homme embla une brebis qui estoit a son voisin /sur 
ce patrice admonesta les gens q quiconque leuist (sic) prinse quil le 
rendesist dedens . vij . iours / Qua?it tout le peuple fut assemble 
dedes leglise, et nul samblant celui home ne faisoit signe de redre 
celle brebis, Saint patrice comanda par la virtu de dieu q la brebis 
criast ou ventre de celui qui lauoit mengie/Et ainsi aduint il. Et 
celui meismes qui coulpable estoit se repenti de son mesfait/et les 
autres se garderent de la en auant dembler les biens dautruy / 

Celui saint evesque comencha a moustrer sainte vie entour Ian de 
nfe seigneur . iij . cens et . Ixxx . ans / 

Unefois quant en yuerne preschoit la foy de ihucrist et peu de 
prouffit par sa predication faisoit, car celles malles gens conuertir ne 
pouoit / Si pria a ihucrist quil leur voulsist demonstrer aucun signe 
appert et espouentable / par lequel ilz se conuertissent et fuissent 
repentans de leurs pechies/ Adont par le commandemewt de dieu 
saint patrice fist en terre ung grant ciercle de son baston/et tantost 
la terre selou la quantite du ciercle se ouurit/et ung puis la endroit 
saparut, tresparfont/ Et saint patrice par la reuelation de dieu 
entendi que la estoit ung lieu de purgatoire/ens ouquel quiconques 
entreroit dedens de tons ses pechies pardon auroit / ne ia autre 
penitence ne feroit ne autre paine ne sentiroit/et lui fut monstre que 
pluiseurs y entreroient qui iamais ne reuenroient; et ceulx qui 
retourner deuroient en celle fosse demouroient dung matin iusques 
a lautre et neant plus/ Et pluiseurs y entrerent qui nen reuinrent. 

Aduint long temps apres la mort saint patrice que ung noble 
homme apelle nicole, qui moult de pechies auoit fait/et tellement 
sen repenti q ou purgatoire de saint patrice entrer vouloit en la 
remission de ses mesfais/ Et quant deuant eut ieune lespace de 
. viij . iours, ainsi que coustume estoit/ Apres en la fosse descend!, 
et trouua au commencement ung huis qui estoit ouuert deuant la 
fosse /il entra en luis & trouua par dedens ung oratoire gracieuse 
et religieuse / et tantost vindrent a luy moisnes tons blans vestus 
daubes/et loffice de dieu firent, et dirent apres a nicole q ferme et 
estable demourast en la foy/ car moult de temptations de lanemi 



Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dorie — Golden Legend. 127 

luy couueuroit souffrir/ Et quant il leur demanda quelle aide il 
pourroit auoir encontre ces temptatwns / Ilz lui dirent : " quant 
tu verras quilz te veullent greuer et tourmenter, et tu les sentiras / 
tantost tu diras : Ihus, le filz de dieu le vif, aiez de moi qui suy 
pecheur merci / " 

Et tantost les moisnes se departirent de lui / et grant foison de 
diables y vindrent, et le assaillirent, premierement de doulx et 
plaisans parolle?, et par promesses, et lui dirent que bien le gar- 
deroient et sauuement le ramenroient / mais pour ce que a eulx 
ne se vouloit acorder ne obeir / tantost firent moult tresgrant 
bruit / si come bestes sauuages, pour lui espouenter / Et il tout 
tramblant de paour dist / " ihiis, filz de dieu le vif, aiez de moy 
pecheur merchi /"A ces mots tons ses (ces) horribles bruis cesserent 
et se esuanuirent. il passa encore auant ung autre lieu, & une grant 
foison de diables vindrent a lencontre de lui, & lui dirent en mana- 
chant : " Guides tu eschapper ? nenil, voir / ains seras orendroit 
vilainement tourmente / '^ Et tantost se apparut la ung tres grant 
feu et horrible / Et les diables dirent / " Nous te ietterons dedens 
ce feu se tu ne acorde a nous.'' il les refusa, et tantost le prinrent 
et le ietterent em mi le feu / et si tost que le tourment du feu senti 
il cria et dist / " Ihus, filz de dieu le vif, aiez de moy pecheur 
merci / " Et tantost le feu sestaindi. 

puis se parti de la, et vint auant en ung autre lieu ou il vid 
plente de gens, homes et femmes, tons vifz ardoir en ung tresgrant 
feu, lesquelz les diables batoient crueusement de verges du feu 
ardant, telleraent q les entrailles se partoient / et des autres en ce 
feu vid il gesir le ventre souuin ; et des autres tous ardans ; et 
crioient : ^' espargnies nous " / et quant plus crioient les diables 
plus les batoient / Aussi vit il la des autres lesqwelz serpens, 
escorpions, crapaux, et pluseurs autres bestes les deuouroient leurs 
membres. & auoient aiguillons ardanz / dont ilz boutoient dedens 
leurs boiaulx et les sacqoient hors de leurs ventres / Et quant 
nicole ne se volt nullement assentir a ces diables, tantost fut deulx 
iette en ce feu et batu des verges crueusement / mais si tost quil 
cria ayde, en disant a nfe seigneur / " Ihus, filz de dieu le vif, aiez 
de moy pecheur merci / " tantost fut deliure / 

Apres ce vint il en une maison en laquelle estoient fossez des- 
quelles voloit hors metal, et y auoit pluiseurs person nes qui auoient 



128 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

en ce metal chacun ung piet, et les aucuns tous deux / et les aultres 
iusques a la poitrine / et les aucuns iusques a la teste / Et de la 
se departi, et vint iusques a ung treslarge puis / duquel yssoit hors 
une tres horrible fumiere et une si tresgrant flaireur quil ne le 
pouoit souffrir/ De laquelle fosse yssoient gens hors si come 
estincelles ardans. Et les diables dirent a nicole : " ceste fosse que 
tu regarde cy est enfer / Et en ce lieu habite nostre maistre, bel- 
zebuch / En ceste fosse te ietterons se tu ne tacordes a nous, et 
saches bien que quant la iette seras iamais a nul temps nen ysse- 
ras / " Et quant a eulx obeir refusa / ilz le prinrent pour lui letter 
en celle fosse denier /et tantost il cria : "Ihesus, filz de dieu le vif, 
aiez de moy pecheur merci / ^' Et par ainsi il eschappa / Et tantost 
les diables se euanuierent comme vaincus et confus. 

Apres, quant reuenir vouloit, il vid ung pont deuant luy par 
lequel luy couuenoit passer/ Celui pont estoit si tresestroit et si 
glicant comme glace ; desoubz lequel couroit une riuiere de souefre 
treslarge, et aussi de feu ardant / Au premier, pour la paour, de 
passer il perdi son esperance / mais quant apres lui souuint de la 
priere par laquelle il estoit de tant de maulx eschappe / Tantost 
luy reuint esperance de passer/ Et chascun pas quil passoit^ sur 
ledit pont denotement disoit / " Ihesus, filz de dieu le vif, aiez de 
moy pecheur raerchi / ^^ Et quant il fut tout oultre cestui pont il 
trouua ung pret tresbel et tresbien oudourant / Et tantost sappa- 
rurent demprez luy deux iosnes hommes moult beaulx / lesquelz le 
conduirent iusques a une moult belle cite, merueilleusement reluisant 
de pierres precieuses, et luy dirent que celle cite estoit le paradis / 
Et quant nicole y vouloit entrer dedens ilz luy dirent que ainchois 
retourneroit il et vendroit a son lieu / et trente iours apres il tres- 
passeroit en paix / et adont entreroit il en celle cite / et perpetu- 
ellement il demouroit dedens / Et apres ces parolles nicole se 
retourna a lentre de la fosse ou il estoit premiers entre / Et ra- 
compta a tous ce que aduenu lui estoit / et morut au . xxx° . iour 
apres / 

desquelles paines denfer et de ^ purgatoire par deseure deces ^ ne 
se doit on point esmerueillier ne cuidier q ce soit fable, car en 
pluiseurs lieux de lescripture et en pluseurs miracles lisons paines 

^Intended for faisoit (?). ^Text de his. 

^That is : par desore de ceans = au dessus c^ans. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorte — Golden Legend, 129 

pareilles. et meismement de ce qtte saint gregoire escript, ou * quart 
liure de son dialogue, dun iehan qui mourut & reuint assez tost 
apres a vie/et testnoignoit quil auoit veu les paines denfer/et 
pluiseurs lieux rempli de feu et de flame sans nombre / Et quant 
celui fut la mene pour estre iette em mi le feu / tantost vint ung 
angel en habit reluisant, et lui dist / ^' Vatent, et prens garde 
coment doresenauant tu viueras " / Et il reuint a vie et demoustra 
clerement, par ieunes et par autres bonnes oeuures de penitence 
quil faisoit, de ce quil auoit veu les paines denfer / 

Encore dist saint gregoire, apres son diacre / Trois ans par cy 
deuawt, en la mortalite qui regnoit cy aual, ung cheualier morut en 
ceste cite / et assez tost apres reuint en vie / et ce que veu auoit 
racompta/& disoit a pluiseurs qml auoit veu ung pont desoubz 
lequel couroit une noire et obscure riuiere/de laquelle montoit 
amont une tresflairant et orde brume / Et outre le pont estoient 
tresbeaulx prez, qui tresbones oudeurs auoient de pluiseurs manieres 
de fleurs, ens esquelles sambloient estre pluiseurs compaignies de 
gens blans vestus, qui de celle oudeur estoient raemplis / La vidt 
il pluiseurs maisons plaines de lumiere / Et entre les autres vid il 
une tresgrande mansion de quariaux dor / mais sauoir ne pouoit 

pour qui ceste maison estoit^ dudit pont une telle 

maniere q chacun qui passer y vouloit tantost cheoit ius en celle 
noire et flairant riuiere. et les bons qui de nul pechie estoient 
entechiez la passoient tost, sans nul empeschement, et venoient 
oultre en cest lieu ioieulx / Encore dist il que il auoit veu pierre, 
qui auoit este . iiij . ans de la famille de leglise, <\ui es lieux obscurs 
gisoit desoubz ce pont, lie de chaines de fer / lequel dist au dit cheu- 
alier la cause de ses paines, q tons iours congnoissons bien qui furent 
telles / car quant on lui comandoit a faire aulcune correction / il le 
faisoit plus par le desir de cruaulte que par obedience / et plus estoit 
il felon en faisant correction quil ne fust debonnaire, que bien 
sceurent ceulx qui le congnoissoient. 

Autres aduenues et exemples des paines denfer sont ou dit liure 
escriptes ; et viennent a la congnoissance de pluiseurs pour leur plus 

^ For this and the next tale see Gregory's works, in Migne's Patrol. Lai., vol. 
77, col. 381. 

* Evidently some lines lacking, which I am unfortunately unable to supply. 

9 



130 Legenda Aurea — Ligende DorSe — Golden Legend. 

grande dampnation, en ce que les paines quilz sceurent estre appa- 
reillies pour les pecheurs ne veullent eschieuer par la repentance de 
leurs pechies / desquelles paines nous veulle garder ihucrist, qui est 
benez in secula seculorum. Amen. 

L. The Holy Cross. H. fol. 77 b ; E. fol. 102 ; A. fol. 107 b; 

h. fol. 124.^ 

The fyndinge of the Crosse was . cc . yer and more aftir the 
Resurreccion of our lorde Jhu Criste. Men rede in the Gospel of 
Nichodemus that whan Adam was sike, Seth, hig sone, wente to 
the yatis of Parradis terrestre, and askid pitousli of the Oyle of 
merci for to anoynte his ffadir to haue his hele. To whom Michael 
the archaungel apperid and seide : " ne trauaile thou not, ne wepe 
not as thou doste for to gete the Oyle of the tree of mercy ; for thou 
maiste none haue in no wise bifore that .v. m. and . v.*'- (yere)^ be 
fulfillid.^' that is to wite, fro Adam into the Passion of Jhu 
Criste ; of whiche . v. m. and . v.*'- yere were passid than saufe . cc. 
and . xxxiij . yer. 

And hit is red ellis wher that the Aungel toke him a braunche, 
and commaundid him to plante hit in the mounte of Liban. and 
verili, in a storie of the Grekes, though hit be Apochriphum, hit is 
writen : the Aungel toke him of the tree of whiche Adam had 
synned, and seide to him that whan that tree sholde here frute his 
ffadir sholde be helid. And whan Seth come home ayen he fonde 
his ffadir ded. and than he plantid this braunche uppon his fadris 
tombe. and whan hit was plauntid hit grewe, and bicome a grete 
tree, and endurid unto the tyme of Salomon, but whether these 
thinges be trewe or none I^ leve hit in the wil of the reder; ffor 
thei be not red in no Cronicle, ne in no storie that is antentik. 

^ I give only the more important variants ; cf. p. 28 on Belet version. 

^H., E., & A, om.; in h. 

^Others, that leue I in (A., to) the wille, etc. V. has {fol. 134) : " et dura iusqwes 
au temps Salomon/ Et pour ce que Salomon le vidt bel, il le fist copper et mettre 
en sa maison quil auoit faicte en la lande/ Et quant la roine de sabba," etc., 
omitting the paragraph : "And as John Belet," and much of the next, as also Caxton, 
who, however^ gives the name: "and sette it in his hows named saltus." But the 
original Vignay is complete; cf. Vr.,fol. 126 : "mes se ces choses sont voires .... 
meittre en sauf en la maison des saus. Et si comme Johan beleth," ete. Cy. p. 9. 



Legenda Aurea — L6gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 131 

Than Salomon sawe this tree so faire (hey commaundid to smyte 
him downe, and putte him safe in the hous of Saux. 

And as John Belet seith, that Tree wolde neuer be mete to no 
manere of werke ; for othir hit was to longe, othir to shorte ; and 
therfore the werkemen had hit in dispite, and toke none hede therof, 
but leide hit oxxer a watir as a brigge men for to passe ouer. And 
than ^ the Quene of saba, whan she come to hure the wisdome of 
Salomon, and than^ as she sholde passe ouere that watir she sawe 
in spirite how that the saviour of al the worlde sholde deie on that 
same Tree ; and therfore she wolde not passe there-ouere, but wor- 
shipper^* that Tree. 

And hit is red in the maistre of stories^ that the Quene of Saba 
saughe that tree in the hous of Saux. and whan she was go home 
ayen to her owne cuntre, she sente Salomon worde, that a man 
sholde be hongid on that Tree bi whos dethe the kingedome of 
Jewes sholde be distroied. And than Salomon toke aweie that 
tree, and hidde hit depe in the erthe. And aftir that the Pyscine 
was made there of probacion, wher men wisshe the sacrifices, and 
men seyen that the menynge ^ of the watir, ne the curacion of sike 
peple, was not onli done for that the Aungel come downe, but bi 
the vertu of that Tree. And whan that the Passion of Jhii Criste 
neyjed, hit is for certeyne that the same Tree floterid aboue the 
watir. and whan the Jewes sawe hit thei toke hit up, and made 
the Crosse of oure lorde therof.'^ 

And the Crosse of our lorde was of . iiij . manere of Trees ; that 
is to seie, of Palme, of Cipresse, of Cedre, and of Olyue ; wherof a 
verse seith : the trees of the Crosse ben of Palme, Olyue, Cidre, 
and Cipres. In the Crosse there were .iiij . differences of Trees: the 
Tree uprighte, the tree ouerthwarte, the tabil that was sette aboue, 

^MS. om. ; in rest ; and below, Sanxe. 

^Others, and whanne the q. of S. come to, etc. Of. Pair. Lat, vol. 202, col. 153; 
but see above, p. 22. 

^Others om. and than ; below, ouer the water and ouer the tree, she seigh, etc. 

*MS., worship, rest,—iped. ^Cf. Patrol. Lat. 198, col. 1370. 

^ Sc, meuynge, as rest. E. & h., pistin of probacion was made there. V. <Ss 
{joxlon agree in saying : " le premier malade qui descendoit en celle pechine estoit 
gari de quelconque maladie quil fust malade" — cf. p. 72. 

"^V. & Caxton add : " dont, selon celle histoire, la croix par qui nous sommes 
flauuez vint de larbre par qui nous sommes dampnez." 



132 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

and the morteise that the Crosse was fastened ynne. this differ- 
ence^ of trees touchith the Appostil Paule, whan he seithe that ye 
mowe comprehende (with) ^ alle the seyntis, whiche is the lengthe^ 
the brede, the heyghte, and the depnesse. whiche wordis Austyne^ 
the nobil doctor, exponneth in this manere : The brede of the Crosse- 
of our lorde is seide in (they trauers where oure lordis hondis were 
strecchid on. The lengthe, fro the erthe to the brede of the armes^ 
wher al his bodie was tormentid on. The heighte was fro the brede 
wher his hede enclined on. The depnesse, that was hid in the 
Erthe wher the Crosse was fastened ynne.^ In whiche signes of 
the Crosse alle cristen mennes dedis bene discriued ; that is to seie,. 
to werke wel in criste, and to bere^ in him perseuerantli, and to- 
hope in heuenli sacramentis and not mysuse hem. 

This precious Tree of the Crosse was hid withynne the erthe 
. cc . yer and more ; ^ but hit was founde aftir in this manere bi 
Eleyne, the Modir of Constantine the Emperour. And in that 
tyme grete multitude of Barbariens withoute nombre wer assemblid 
bisidis the Ryuere of Danibe, and wolde haue passid ouere and 
submittid alle the Regions of the orient^ unto her lordeshippe. And 
whan Constantine the Emperour wiste that, he remeuyd his hoste,. 
and come ayenste hem uppon the Danibe. and these men of bar- 
baren encresid al day, and passid ouere the floode. And than Con- 
stantine had grete drede, and sawe that he moste nedis fighte witb 
hem in the morwe. And in the same nyghte the Aungel of god 
awoke him, and seide to him that he sholde loke upwarde. And 
than Constantine lokid up to heuene-warde, and saw the signe of 
the Crosse shyninge right cleer with grete lighte ; and there was 
write aboue with lettris of golde : thou shalte ouerecome thyne ene- 
myes bi this signe. And than he was confortid with (thaty heuenly 
vision. And than he lete make a Crosse, and ordeyned (hity to be 

^This, to end of paragraph, om. in V. & C; but in Vr. ^MS. om.; in rest^ 

*MS. om. ; in E. & h. 

* Vr. : " et le parfont fu ce qui estoit fichie en terre. Et ce precieus fust," etc. ,- 
cf. p. 72. ^Others, cleue ; for leue ? 

*F.: "lespace de deux cens ans et plus [= Caxton: space of an hondred yere 
and more] .... elaine le trouua en ceste maniere/car il estoit venu une grant 
multitude de gens barbarins demprey la riuiere de la dinoe " — cf. Caxton. 

M., Occident, erased; oryent in marg. ^MS. om.; rest, for (A. by) that. 

^MS. om. ; in rest. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 133 

bore bifore him and al his hoste. And than manli he ranne on his 
-enerayes, and putte hem to flighte, and sloughe of hem grete mul- 
titude. 

And aftir that Constantine lete calle to him the Bisshopis of the 
ydollis, and enquered of hem diligentli of what god that signe was. 
and thei tolde him thei wiste neuere. And than there come some 
oristen men that tolde pleynly that hit was the signe of the holy 
Crosse. And than the Emperour bileuid parfijtli in Jhu Criste, 
and resceyued Bapteme of the Pope Eusebi, or aftir some othir 
bookis, of the Bisshop Cesarience. but many thingis be put in this 
storie to whiche the storie partid in three ^ (!) ayen-seith, and the 
Maistre of stories also, and the life of seinte Siluestre, and the 
geestis of the Bisshopis of Rome. And aftir some othir writers, 
this was not Constantine whiche was baptized of Siluestre the Pope, 
like as othir stories she wen. But hit was Constantine the ffadir of 
this Constantine ; for this Constantine come othir wise to the feithe, 
so as men rede in the stori of seinte Siluestre, that tellith that he 
was baptized of seinte Siluestre, and not of Eusebi. for [whany 
Constantine the ffadir was dede, Constantine his sone remembrid 
him of the victorie of his ffadir, had bi the signe of the Crosse, and 
sente his Moodir, Eleyne, into Jerusale??i for to fynde the veri 
Crosse, so that hit is seide herafter. 

And the Maistre of stories tellith that this victorie was done in 
this wise, he seith that whan Maxence assailed the Emperour of 
Rome, Constantine the Emperour come bisidis the Brigge of Albion 
for (to)^ fighte with Maxence.^ he was ful of Anguyssh, and ofte 
tyme he lifte up his hede and his eyen towarde heuene to biseche 
almyghty god of helpe. And as he slepte he had a vision fro 
heuene towarde the orient ; for he saughe the signe of the Crosse 
in liknesse of fire. And an Aungell aftir that seide to him : "Con- 
stantine, thou shalt ouerecome thine enemyes bi this signe." and 

^Historia tripartita = lystoire partie en trois; thus also, e. g., in V.f. 272, Va.f. 
219. All this omitted by V. & Caxton; cf. F./oZ. 1346. : "et se fist baptisier. Et 
puis aduint que constantin son filz, qui auoit souuenance de la victoire son pere, 
enuoia a elaine sa mere pour trouuer la sainte vraie croix/dont alia elaine en 
iherusalen, et fist assambler tous les sages du pais, quant ilz furent assemblez ilz 
^stoient malaise de scauoir .... dont leur dist iudas," etc., omitting all about 
Maxence, and about St. Helenas parentage, etc. ; all in Vr. 

* MS. om.; in rest. ' MS. for he ; for om. in rest, as also below, his hede and. 



134 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Dor6e — Golden Legend. 

as hit is seide in the storye partid in three, that as he raerueyled 
hereof what hit myghte be, the same nyghte folevvinge Jhu Criste 
apperid to him with that signe that he had seine in heuene. and 
he commaundid that he sholde make that signe and that figure, and 
that same sholde helpe him ayenste his enemyes in bataile. than 
was Coustantine glad, and was al sure to haue the victorie ; and 
made a figure in his fiDrhede, the signe that he had seene in heuene,^ 
and chaungid alle his baners of werre, and made on hem the signe 
of the Crosse, and he bare a Crosse of golde on his honde,^ and 
bisoughte our lorde that he wolde not suflPre that righte side, whiche 
he had worshipid with the signe of hele and sauacion, to be bled 
with the bloode of Romaynes, But that of his mercie he wolde 
graunte him the victorie of (the)^ tirauntis withoute shedinge of 
blood. 

And than Maxence commaundid to thoo that were with him in 
his shippis that thei sholde go undir the brigge,^ and that thei 
sholde kutte the brigge, for to disseyue here enemyes that sholde 
passe ouere. And whan that Maxence saughe that Constantine 
approchid the floode, he foryat his werke that he had done made^ 
and wente hasteli ayenste Constantine with fewe men, and com- 
maundid the rempnaunt of his peple to folewe him anone. And 
so Maxence wente forthe on the* Brigge, and was disseiued with the 
same disseite that he wolde have deceyued Constantine ; and so he 
was drowned in the depe flood, and than was Constantyne res- 
seyued for lorde bi alle accorde. 

And as hit is redde in a storie Autentik, that Constantine bileued 
not parfijtly in god that tyme, ne he had not yit resseyued the holi 
Bapteme. But withynne a while aftir he sawe a vision of Seinte 
Petir and seinte Poule; and than he was baptized of Seinte 
Siluestre the Pope ; and so he was helid of that lepre ; and aftir 
that he bileued parfijtli in god. And than he sente his Moodir, 
Eleyne, into Jerusalem for to seke the Crosse of our lorde. not- 
withstondinge, Ambrose seith, in his Epistil of the dethe of Theo- 
dosion, and the storie partid in three holte the same, that Constan- 

^A., made on them the signe of the cros of golde in his honde. And he, ete./ 
so h. originally, but in marg. it is corrected, as in S. 

^MS. om.; in rest. ^MS., grigge; A., brig; E. & h., brigges. 

* MS. on the bis. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 135 

tine abode for to be baptized unto his laste daies ; and he dide hit 
to that ende that he wolde be baptised in fflom Jordan. And this 
same seith Jerome in his Croniclis. but hit is certeyne that he was 
baptised undir Siluestre the Pope ; But hit is adoute whedir he 
abode to be baptised or no. and som men doute the legende of 
seinte Siluestre in meny thingis. ffor this storie of the Inuencion 
of the Crosse, whiche is founde in the storie Ecclesiastes, to whom 
the Cronicle accord ith, semeth more Autentik than that that is 
recordid in the Chirche ; for there be many thingis wit/iynne that 
accorde not with the trouthe. but yf eny parauenture wolde seie 
so as hit is seide ofte aboue, that That same was not Constantine, 
but Constantine his ffadir, whiche is not righte autentik, thoughe 
hit be so that hit be radde in stories byyonde the see. 

And than whan Eleyne was come to Jerusalem^ she commaundid 
that alle the wise Jewes wer broughte bifore hir of al that Region. 

And this Eleyne had (fursty to her husbonde an Osteler; but 
for the bewte of her Constaunte ioyned her unto him, aftir that 
Ambrose tellith bi these wordis : " men seyne," seith Ambrose, 
" that she was an osteler ; but wel I wote she was weddid to fJon- 
staunte the olde, that aftir was Emperour. She was a good Osteler, 
that so diligentli soujte the Cribbe of our lorde Jhu Criste. Also 
she was a good Osteler, that mys-knewe nat him that laye in the 
stabil. And also she was a good osteler, that accomptid al thinge 
at noughte saue the loue of Jhu Criste ; and for to gete that was al 
her ioye and al her labour. And therfore our lorde lifte her up fro 
this place to his endles blisse.^' and this seith seinte Ambrose; but 
othir seyne, and hit is redde in a storye that is Autentik, that 
Eleyne was the doughtir of Thoell, kynge of Bretaigne. and whan 
Constaunte was in Bretaigne he toke here unto his wyfe. and than 
the yle of Bretaigne fel unto him bi the dethe of Thoell ; and this 
the Bretons witnessith. 

And thanne the Jewes dradde gretli, and seide one to anothir : 
" whi trowe ye that the Queue makith us to appere bifor here ? " 
and than one of hem, that highte ^ Judas, seide : " I wote wel that 
she wolde knowe of us wher the Tree of the Crosse is that Jhu 

^E.f and all : And as Eline was come be yende the see, she, etc. 
^MS. om.; E., and all: had furst an hostiler, but for, etc.; h., J>e grete; A., hir 
gret b. she was Ioyned to con. ^MS. lighte; rest, hight(e). 



136 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DoHe — Golden Legend, 

Criste was hongid on. but none knoweliche to her of yow ; ffor I 
wote well than that our lawe shal be distroied, and the techingis 
of our kinrede amentisid. for zathee/ my graunte ffadir, tolde my 
ffadir, and my ffadir tolde me whan he deide, and seide : *^ sone, I 
charge the that whan the tyme cometh that men seke the Crosse of 
Criste, that thou shewe hit to none ^ bifore thou haue suffred som 
tormente. For aftir that she shal be founde, the peple of Jewes 
shal haue no kyngdome, but thei shal haue hit that worshippe the 
crucified ; for he is Jhu Criste, the sone of god.' And than I seide 
to him : ^ ffadir, yf your Auncien ffadris knewe that he was the 
sone of god, whi hinge thei him on the Gebet of the Crosse ? ' " 
than seide his ffadir : " god wot I was neuer of her counseil, but 
ayen-seide hem meny tymes. for I wote wel he was a right- 
wise man, and repreued the vices of the Phariseis, whiche made 
him to be crucified. And he arose verili the thridde day fro dethe 
to life, and stied into heuene seynge his disciplis. And Stephert, 
thi brothir, bileued. in him ; ^ and therfore the woode Jewes stoned 
him to the dethe. Wherfore kepe the, good sone, that thou blame 
him not, ne his disciples.'^ but this is not righte prouable, that the 
ffadir of this Judas myghte haue be in the tyme of the passion of 
Jhu Criste ; for hit was . cc . yere and . Ixx . fro the passion Of 
Criste unto the comynge of Eleyne, in whos tyme the Crosse was 
founde ; but yf hit were, parauentur, that men lyued in thoo dales 
lengir than thei do nowe.* 

And than seide Judas to the Jewes : ^ "we herde neuer of these 
thingis. But loke yf the Queue enquere of these thingis that thou 
discouere this nought.'^ And than aftir (whan) thei wer alle 
broughte bifore the Queue, and she askid hem wher the place was 
that Jhu Criste was crucified on ; but thei wolde not telle her in no 
wise. And than the Queue commaundid that thei sholde alle be 
brente in a fire, so that thei dradde fore the dethe, and delyuered 
her Judas, seyinge : " Madame, this is the sone of a rightwise man 

^E. & h., Sachee myn (my) graunsere (Graunsire) ; A., Zachee my grauntsir. 

^E. & h., to man tofore thou haue s. to miche torment. All om. hit. 

'^A., in hym verily. And l^erefore kepe the, etc., also h., originally, but here the 
omission is supplied in marg., minor details agreeing with E. rather than H. 

*Note omission of this sentence in V. and Caxton. 

^Dizerunt ergo Judaei ad Judam ; the error common to all, tho' h. does notice it, and 
corrects thou to ge, in marg.; no error in Vr. 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 137 

and a prophete, and knewe the lawe right well ; and he can shewe 
yow al that ye wil axe him." and than she lete go alle that othir 
and kepte Judas allone. 

And than Eleyne seide to him : "chese of .ij . thinges, whethir 
thou wilte dele or lyue.^ shewe me the place that is callid Gal- 
gatha, wher Jhu Criste was crucified, so that I may finde the 
Orosse." than Judas aunswerid and seide: "how may I knowe 
the place, sith hit is .cc. yer and .Ixx., and I was not in that 
tyme." To whom the Queue seide : " bi him that was crucified, 
but yf thou telle me the trouthe I shall make the deie for hunger.'^ 
And than she commaundid that he shold be caste into a depe 
prisone, and there to be tormentid wyth hungre. and whan he 
had be there . vii . dayes, he bisoughte her that he myghte come 
oute, and he wolde shewe the peple ^ {sic) of the Crosse. 

And whan he was had oute of prison he come to the place, and 
made his praiers to the place. And than that place bigan to meue 
sodenli, and the peple felte a meruelous sauour of swetnesse,^ so 
that Judas merueilid, and reioysed, and ioyned his hondis togedres, 
and seide : " in trouthe, Jhu Criste, thou arte the sauyour of the 
worlde ! " 

And as men rede in the Maister of stories that the temple of 
venus* was in the same place, the whiche Adrian the Emperour 
lete make, for that cause yf eny cristen men come to worshippe the 
place that he sholde be seie to worship^e the ydolle of venus ; and 
therfore that place was nat hauntid, but as al foryeten. And than 
Eleyne made that temple to be destroied and that place to be wor- 
shiped. And than aftir that Judas and othir bigan for to digge 
myghteli, that thei diggid . xx . paas depe ; and there thei founde 
, iij . Crossis hid, the whiche he broughte to the Quene Eleyne. 

^Caxton must have used Lat. or Eng. here: "Thenne she shewed to hym his lyfe 
•& dethe, & bad hym chese. whyche he wold;" =■ V.J. 135: *'dont lui dist elle 
la vie et mort de son propos, ' preng lequel qwe tu veulz ; ' " = Vr. f. 128 : " Ellis 
lequel qwe tu voudras, ou morir, ou viure." Aho below, V. : dont luy dist la roine : 
" par le crucifix, ie te ferai perir de faim ; " = Vr. : au quel la roine dist : "Par 
€il qui fu crucefie, ie te ferai raorir par faim." 

^Others, place; A., the place to hir. And whan he had made his prayers the 
place bygan, etc.; h. also originally so, but marginal correction now makes it like E.: 
Come to the place, and whanne he hadde made his praiers the place beganne, etc. 

^Vr.: "et len senti oudeur de merueilleuse douceur daromates;" V., "une 
fumiere de grant oudeur," = Caxlon: "fume of grete swetenes. 

*V. & Caxton simply: le temple dune deesse, ^ of a goddesse. 



138 Legenda Aurea — Legende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

And whan thei couile not knowe the Crosse of Jhu Criste fro 
the Crosse of the thefis, thei leide hem alle three in the myddis of 
the Cite, and abode there the grace of god. And than aboute the 
oure of none men here a yonge man dede by the weye. And than 
Judas toke the first Crosse, and the secounde, and leide hem uppon 
the ded body ; but he meued neuer the more. But as sone as he 
was touchid with the thridde Crosse he aros anone fro dethe to lyffe. 

JtfEn rede in the stori Ecclesiaste,^ that a ladi, whiche was Ladi 
of that Cite, lay in her bedde, halfe dede. and Macharie, that was 
Bisshop of Jerusalem, toke the firste Crosse, and the secunde ;^ but 
thei profighted her not. And than he toke the thridde Crosse and 
touchid her therewith : and she aros anone al hole. And Ambrose 
seith how that thei knewe the Crosse of our lorde bi the titil that 
Pilat had sette thereon, that was founde and radde there. 

and the ffende cried in the eyre, and seide : " O, thou Judas ! 
whi haste thou doo this? thou hast not folewed^ myne othir Judas, 
but thou haste do the contrarie. For he dide the treson that I 
connseiled him ; and thou haste forsake me, and haste founde the 
Crosse of Jhu Criste. By my Judas I haue wonne meny a soule ; 
and bi the I shal lese thoo of the Jewes that I had gete som tyme. 
I regned by him in the peple ; and bi the I shal be caste oute of 
the peple. and therfore verili yf I may I shal ouercome the. for 
I shal meue ayenst the anothir kynge, that shal lese* the lawe of 
the Crucified, and make the to renaye the crucified." the which 
thinge the flPeende mente bi Julian Appostata, the whiche tormentid 
aftir that same Judas wit/i meny grete tormentis; for he was made 
Bisshope of Jerusalem, and a martir of Jhu Criste. 

And whan Judas herde the ffeende crie so, he dradde him not, 
but cursid him strongli, seyinge : ^^ Jhu Criste hath dampned the 
depe in helle, in euerlastinge fire.'' And aftir that Judas was cris- 
tened, and callid Quiriacus ; and than he was ordeyned to be 
Bisshop of Jerusalem. And whan the blessid Eleyne saughe that 
she had not the blessid Nayles of Jhu Criste, she praied Quiriacus 
that he wolde go to the same place and seke hem diligentli. And 

1 This story om. in V. and C. ; but in Vr. 
*A.y and the seconde and touchid hir ; but, etc. 
' A., Thu hast not defouled myn, etc. 
*Re8tf leue ; A. om. and make — crucified. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 139 

whan he come thidir and made his praiers, the Nayles of our lorde 
Jhu Criste bigan to shyne aboue the erthe as golde.^ than he toke 
hem up and bare hem to Eleyne the Quene. and than she knelid 
a-doune, and enclyned here heed, and worshipid hem with grete 
reuerence. 

And than seinte Eleyne toke that one partie of the Crosse, and 
that othir she made to be putte in a fayre Shryne ^ of siluer, and 
here hit into Jerusalem. And that othir partie she bare to her sone, 
and the Nayles of our lorde that he was nayled with. Of the 
whiche Nailes, as Cesarience seith, Constantine made to sette {oon 
ofY hem in a Bridell whiche he used whan he wente into bataile. 
And with that othir he arrayed his helme. But raeny affermed, a& 
Gregorie of Touris seith/ that there were . iiij . uailes fastned in 
oure lorde Jhu ; of the whiche seinte Eleyne put . ij . in her sones 
Bridell. and the thridde was sette in the ymage of Constaunte that 
is at Rome, and apperid aboue al the Cite. And the . iiij . ''"' she 
caste in the see of Adrian, the whiche into that tyme had be a 
deluge and distruccion of alle thoo that come thereynne. And she 
commaundid that this feeste of the Inuencion of the Crosse were 
euery yere halewid solempneli. and Ambrose seith the same, how 
that Eleyne soughte the Nayles of oure lorde, and fonde hem. and 
of that one she made her sone a Bridell. and of that othir a 
Croune ; and she made to sette the Nayles in the forheed, and 
the^ Cronne in the backe of the hede ; and the reyne in the honde : 
so that the witte apperid, the feithe shyned, and the myghte 
gouerned. 

And whan alle these thingis were done, Julian the Appostata 
slouje Seint Quiriacus the Bisshop, for that he had founde the holy 
Crosse, and this Julian enforsid him al that he couthe to distroie 
the holy Crosse.^ for whan Julian wente ayens the men of Perce^ 
he toke Quiriacus, and wolde haue made him to do sacrifice to the 
ydollis. And whan Quiriacus had denyed hit, he made to kutte 

^A., golde. tho he knelyd downe, and enclyned his hed, and worshipped hem 
with gret reuerence, and bare hem to the quene. 
'A., put a shrine, hut in a fair inserted in marg. 
^All om.; in marg. of h., made set (oon of) them. 
* This and fol. to end of paragraph om. in V. and Caxton ; but in Vr. 
^Others, of the crowne; cf. Lat. p. 310. 
® Sentence repeated in A., but erased ; this Julian omitted. 



140 Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend. 

of his right honde, and seide that he had write to many letters 
with his honde : ^' bi the whiche he hath witMrawe moche peple to 
sacrifice to our goddis.^' And than Quiriacus seide to him : " thou 
wood hounde, thou haste do to me a grete profighte. For or I wer 
oristen I wrote ofte into the synagoge of Jewes that none^ sholde 
bileue in god. and nowe thou haste caste aweye al the disclaundir 
of my bodi.'' 

And than anone this Julian lete melte lede, and poured hit in 
his mouth, and aftir that he lete make a Grederne of Iren, and 
made him to be leide thereon, and grete fire to (be) ^ putte undir of 
oolis. and than he made his woundis to be frotid with salte and 
grece. And Quiriacus helde him stille withoute meuynge. and 
than Julian seide to him : " yf thou wilte not sacrifie to our goddis, 
yit renaye that thou arte a cristen man.'^ and whan Quiriacus had 
refusid to do that cursid^ dede, Julian commaundid to make a depe 
pitte in the erthe, and put thereynne Quiriacus, and caste uppon 
him venemous serpentis. but these serpentis were dede anone. And 
than Julian commaundid that Quiriacus sholde be put in a Cau- 
dron ful of Oyle boylinge hoote. and he blessid him, and entrid 
ynne with his good wille, and praied to oure lorde that he wolde 
baptize him ayen in the lauatorie of martirdome. And than was 
Julian wrothe, and commaundid that he were smyte thorugh the 
bodi with a spere ; and so he disserued to fulfille his martirdome. 

how moche the vertu of the Crosse apperid in that trewe ISTotarie 
that an enchauntour wolde haue disseyued, and broughte him into 
a place where he callid the ffeendis, and bihijte him that he sholde 
habounde in al manere of richesse. And than he saughe a grete 
Ethiope sitte an highe uppon an highe seege. and had aboute him 
meny Ethiopis that helde swerdis and staues in her bond is. And 
than he asked of the Enchauntour what man that was. and he 
seide : ^' lorde, hit is youre seruaunt.^^ And than the Ethiope seide : 
^^ wil he worshipe me, and be myne, and renaye his Criste ? And 
I shal make him sitte uppon ray righte side." and than anone this 
Notarie made uppon him the signe of the Crosse, and seide that he 

^A. & h., men ; but in h. non replaces erased men. 
^MS. om.; in rest; A. has, gret Colys of fire to be put under. 
^E., and whanne he hadde refused that in cursinge, Julyan, etc.; A. & h., he had 
do to refuse that in scornjng, Julian, etc. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 141 

was the seruaunt of Jhu Criste. and anone that multitude of 
ffeendis vanysshid awey. 

And aftir that in a tyme as this Notarie wente vfiih his maistre 
and entrid into a Chirche of seihte Sophie, and stode bothe bifore 
the ymage of the sauyoure, his maystre saughe how that the ymage 
bihilde the Notarie verili, and had his eyjen sette uppon him en- 
tenteli. And (whany the maistre sawe this he had grete merueile^ 
and made him turne into the right side of the ymage. and yit he 
sauje the ymage haue alwey his eyjen uppon him. And than he 
made him turne on the lifte side, but the ymage turned his eyen 
uppon him, and bihelde him stedfasth*. And than the maistre con- 
traried^ him, and praied him to telle him what he had deserued 
towardis god that the ymage bihelde him soo? And than this 
Notarie seide that he cowthe not remembre him of no goode dede 
that he had done, but that he wolde not renaye god aftir the ffendis 
biddinge.^ Here endith the Findinge of the holy Crosse. 

Chapter VI. Kemarks on the Texts. Eesults. 

A few words must be said on the principles which have guided 
me in editing the legends given above. In the MSS., and in the 
printed text of de Vignay, the eccentricities of the original uses of 
capitals have never been ^' corrected ; ^' whether according with our 
ideas or not, I have always attempted to reproduce the original. 
But in the case of punctuation I felt myself free ; for such rude 
attempts at indicating punctuation as "were to be found in the MSS. 
were too scanty, and too thoroughly inconsistent. In both Eng- 
lish and French legends, therefore, I am responsible for the punc- 
tuation, which I have used to bring out the proper meaning 
according to my best judgment. I trust that some semblance of 
order has been brought out of chaos, so that at least some sort of 
meaning will be got out of the sentences. In the printed V. there 
is some punctuation, which is in general quite correct, but insuffi- 
cient ; as far as possible I have preserved this (indicated by/, as in 
Caxton), and supplemented it with my own. I have also felt 
bound to reduce the inconsistent uses of the MSS. as regards divi- 

^MS. om.; rest, And whan he sawe. ^Others, his maister coniured. 

^E. & A., wolde not renye hym afore the fende {A. adds, and enchauntour). 



142 Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 

sion of words to some sort of order. For example, the indefinite 
article was sometimes joined to the following adj., as agrete^ adepe; 
words which we now write in one body were sometimes divided, 
as with in, ouer come. These changes have been carried through 
as consistently as possible. I have not attempted to reproduce the 
rubric paragraph signs, which are used in all the MSS., but which 
are not consistent with modern punctuation. 

It was often a sore temptation to offer certain emendations, but 
in no case have any such been put in the text unless justified or 
suggested by another version. In the case of legends A. to E., in- 
clusive, there was only the text of MS. Add. 11,565, with its 
marginal corrections. Many interesting collations with Caxton 
might have been put in here ; but it is perhaps preferable that the 
comparison be made in bulk. In the other legends the MS. on 
which the text is based is always the first named. For the Seven 
Sleepers, St. Patrick, and Holy Gross, I chose the text of MS. Harl. 
4775, because it seemed, in general, the smoothest, and also because 
the relationship between it and Douce 372 could then be shown 
more clearly. It is, perhaps, needless to say that the texts are as 
accurate as I could make them. That errors have crept in I can- 
not doubt, but I hope they will prove to be few and insignificant ; 
for all portions of the copy which seemed to me doubtful were col- 
lated many times with the MSS. before leaving London. 

The variants from other mss. given in the footnotes are not 
intended to be exhaustive, except in that portion of the Seven Sleepers 
common to MSS. H. and D. Here I sought to give even the minor 
orthographic variants. Even thus, they are insignificant in num- 
ber, and not one is of any real importance. Exactly similar results 
would appear in other legends which I am not able to print here, 
such as St. Julian, St. Ursula^ Five wiles of Pharao, and Adam. 
This seems to me a confirmation of the opinion expressed on p. 73. 
In the variants from others than MS. D., I have tried to give, in 
legends F. and J., all that were of any importance, rarely any that 
were merely orthographic. Even with these restrictions, the notes 
occupy a good deal of space, so that it may be imagined to what 
inordinate proportions they would have grown if minute details 
had been included. I may state here that where a variant reading 
has been referred to as occurring in All, or in Others, or in rest, I 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 143 

mean in all other mss. except the one on which the text is based, 
excluding, of course, cases in which some special variant for a cer- 
tain MS. has been already given in the note. 

The choice of the legends here printed has not been altogether 
haphazard. All of them, we must remember, are here printed for 
the first time in their present form, with the exception of St, Patrick 
and the French legends ; and all these, too, except iT., are based on 
MSS., not on the later printed forms. The first five legends are 
from MS. A., and are among the most important in the list. For 
they will show, upon comparison, a much closer relation to Caxton 
than any of the others. We have discussed this before (p. 83, fol.) 
and there is little more to add ; for half an hour spent by the reader 
in comparing these legends with Caxton^s version of them will do 
more to prove our point than pages of scrappy parallels presented 
here. I may add, however, that the differences between Caxton 
and MS. A. in these legends is probably no greater than that between 
Caxton's Polychronicon and the R. S. ed. of Trevisa^s work. The 
same holds true of other legends for which Caxton depended on 

MS. A. 

The Seven Sleepers was chosen to show another aspect of Caxton's 
debt to the mss. Here he had his choice between the French, the 
Latin, and the English. He almost certainly used all three. The 
first few words of Caxton's story are quite as close to the corres- 
ponding portion in the mss. (p. 107) as the text of MS. A., for ex- 
ample, is to that of MS. H. And similar verbal agreements in 
various parts of the story show phrases borrowed from the mss. ; 
e. g., MSS. : "And therfore I commaunde that thou be demened aftir 
the lawes into the tyme that thou hast confessed that thow hast 
founde '^ — Cax. : "And therfor I commaund that thou be demened 
after the lawe, til thou hast confessyd where thou hast founde this 
money." I think there can be no doubt that Caxton translated 
with the English before him. We may feel perfectly sure that he 
always kept the Latin by him ; I need here mention only the sig- 
nificant fact that he uses the Latin form of the names, as MalchuSy 
and marcyanus (Malche and Martinian in mss. ; cf. also p. 93). 
And the frequency of French words in place of English ones 
(doubtous for dredful; entresalewed eche other, for bade eche of hem 
othir good morwe) shows no less certainly use of the French, even 



144 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dor^e — Golden Legend, 

if we did not find a phrase such as the following, without counter- 
part in the English or Latin : " that mountayn whiche was deserte 
and aspre.^' 

St. Marine^ in its two forms, was put in to show several things 
(cf. pp. 7] , 87, and 93). In the first place, we find that Caxton 
here relied mainly upon the Latin ; he did not use the French at 
all, for it seems probable, from our examination of the etymologies, 
that he did not use the Mss. which have this legend. But his 
knowledge of the English may be suspected when we find him 
using a sentence not found in the Latin, but in our mss. In the 
second place, a comparison of French and English MS. versions 
shows that the latter is considerably fuller, and that it is more 
likely to have come from the Latin than from the French. 

The three versions of St Patrick were meant to bring out sev- 
eral interesting points. The comparisons already made between I. 
and /. (cf. pp. 71, 72) are the basis of my opinion that the English 
translator used the Latin as well as the French. I leave the texts 
in the hands of the reader. A mere glance at texts J. and K. will 
convince any one of the fact that the de Vignay reviser has been 
at work here. He has changed the form of the original about as 
much as Caxton usually does. And he has also added two inci- 
dents by way of supplement. But most noteworthy of all is the 
attitude assumed by Caxton to the original story, as represented by 
the three texts here presented and the Latin. He has followed 
none, but, as we have shown above (p. 86), has written a new legend 
for himself, in which he leaves out nearly all the familiar purgatory 
legend, about which he was apparently a little skeptical ; yet he adds 
many details that seemed to him historical. I selected this legend 
to show how freely the great printer handles his materials when on 
ground with which he was familiar. Ralph Higden was to him a 
trustworthy historian, while the unknown author of this very extra- 
ordinary story of Nicholas, with his experiences of fire and brim- 
stone, was hardly to be credited. He describes how the saint 
discovered the mouth of purgatory, and the conditions of entrance. 
Then he proceeds, without any mention of Nicholas : "As touchyng 
this pytte or hole, whyche is named saynt Patrykes purgatorye, 
somme holde opynyon that the second patryke whiche was an 
abbot & no bysshop, that god shewed to hym this place of purga- 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dorie — Golden Legend, 145 

torye, but certeynly suche a place there is in yrelonde wherein many 
men haue been, and yet dayly goon in & come ageyn, & somme 
haue had there meruayllous vysions and seen grysly and horryble 
paynes, of whome there been bookes maad as of Tundale and 
other." ^ This is all, except the passing reference below, where the 
three great feats of St. Patrick are enumerated : " The iii wonder 
is redde of hys purgatorye, whyche is more referred to the lasse 
saynt Patryk thabbot." I quote from the K. P. ed., p. 422. 

In the last of the legends, the Holy Cross, I have attempted to 
show, first, how Caxton sometimes follows V. (S.), rather than the 
standard and conventional form found in the Latin, older French, 
and English versions. But even here, though following V. in 
omitting many of the details (indicated in the footnotes), he can be 
detected in the act of adding corrections from the other versions. 
A case in point is the insertion of the name hoy)S named saltus 
(== domus saltus), which is not found in theV. text (cf. p. 1 30, note 3). 
A careful reading would doubtless discover more, but I could not 
devote much time to minutiae of this nature, having hit upon one 
point that is quite sufficient for my purposes. I wished also to 
bring out some of the more interesting features of the Belet and 
Vignay French versions, and in order to keep the notes within 
bounds, I was compelled to give very few variants from the Eng- 
lish MSS. I hope, however, that I have succeeded in retaining all 
that were of any real value. The legend itself is peculiarly inter- 
esting, and the footnotes are intended to emphasize certain points, 
for which I shall refer to the text and to previous parts of this 
study. 

A few words must still be said regarding the Kelmscott Press 
Golden Legend. Mr. Ellis's statement (p. 1285), that "where the 
text was altogether unintelligible, or absolutely wrong through 
mistranslation, no hesitation has been felt in correcting it by the 
Latin original " — without any sort of sign-post to warn one — filled 
me with alarm, especially in view of other shortcomings of the 
edition from a critical point of view. I could not leave St. Cuth- 

^ Is it not possible that Caxton got his doubts from reading Froissart? Cf. the 
latter's comment in his Chron., Bk. IV, cap. 62— in Lord Berners, see Wright, 
St. Pat. Purgatory, p. 139. Caxton certainly knew of Froissart ; see the reference 
in his Epilogue to the Order of Chivalry, Blades, i, 176. 

10 



146 Legenda Aurea — LSgende DorSe — Golden Legend, 

bert, St. Donston, and other holy and blessed saints, martyrs, and 
•confessors in whom I was interested, defenceless victims to Mr. 
Ellis's sacrificial shears. I therefore collated all the legends with 
which I was particularly concerned with the original Caxton. I 
am glad to say that I found practically no changes of importance. 
In many places "&" has been substituted for " and,'' or vice versa; 
and a few capitals have been changed, generally to suit the modern 
punctuation. We may well forgive such slight changes. 

With the evidence I have already presented (p. 70, fol.), and 
with that which the reader may select for himself from the French 
and English texts of Marine and Patrick, I think it can be proved 
that the English translator knew and used, to some extent, the 
original Latin. I shall not argue the question over again, as my 
views have already been stated as fully as need be. But one piece 
of evidence, which I had intended presenting earlier had I not been 
prevented by mislaying a part of my notes, will come in here at 
the end, where I fear it will produce a stronger effect than I wished 
to have attached to it. It will be remembered that de Vignay's 
name always occurs at the end of the legend of St Dominique (cf. 
p. 45-46). This would be one of the first places in which one 
would look, therefore, to find out something about the name of the 
translator of the English version. It so happens that MSS. A., H., 
and D. are defective just at this point. But in E., fol. 178, and in 
h., fol. 226, we find the following words, which would have 
delighted Dr. Horstmann's soul had he happened upon them : ^ 
"Seint Domenik the ordenaunce [sicY of his ordre sawe ihu crist 
that helde . iij . dartes in his honde and manaced the worlde, etc, 
ffor I, frere iohn of Benyngnay, translatour of this boke, will no 
more putte hereof that vision ; for she is before in the same chap- 
itre. and thus endith this glorious lyff of seint Domenik, the furst 
fader and techer of the frere prechoures ; notwithestondinge that I 
haue not fully drawe oute alle the glorious miracles that hys (/. 
178 b) blessed lyff makithe mension of, for shortnesse of tyme ; but 
ho so luste to rede hem or to here hem, he may clerely and plen- 

^ This bit was copied by Mr. J. A. Herbert, of the Brit. Mus., as I was unable 
to find the notes I had myself made. The two mss. vary only in quite unim- 
portant points of spelling; I quote from E. 

* The sentence should possibly read : St. Dom. atie the ordenaunce, etc. 



Legenda Aurea — Legende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 147 

teiioiisly se hem in legenda aurea : and oure blessed lorde thorughe 
liis praiers yeue us part of his holy merites. Amen." The vision 
here referred to is that recounted in the Latin, p. 470, beginning : 
Quidam frater minor .... narravit : cum beatus Dominicus Romae 
pro Gonfirmatione sui ordinis apud papam instarety node orans vidit 
in spiritu Christum in aere exsistentem et tres lanceas in manu ten- 
entem et contra mundum eas vibrantem. There is no doubt whatever 
in my mind, not only that the words in the English MSS. are trans- 
lated from the French, with which they agree so ludicrously, but 
that the very name of Benyngnay is but a corruption of Vignay. 
Mr. Madge suggests (p. xiii) Bungay (?) ; but he was not aware of 
the original passage in the French, which explains it all. But in 
«pite of this tell-tale piece of copying on the part of the English 
translator, I still hold to my view, for which I think I have given 
adequate evidence, that he also used the Latin. 

The original purpose of my study, viz., to work out the sources 
and method of Caxton^s Golden Legende^ has been obscured by so 
much detail and followed through such devious ways that I feel it 
necessary to re-state my conclusions. We have five fairly complete 
MSS. of an English prose translation of the Legenda Aurea, made 
from the French of Jean de Vignay, with some use of the Latin, 
in the first quarter of the XV century. I feel quite sure that other 
MSS. of this version are to be found. All of those we have are 
copies, and all agree closely enough to allow of collation. One of 
these MSS., which has never before been described as belonging to 
this common version (except, of course, in the Brit. Mus. Cata- 
logues ; Ward mentions it. Vol. IT, 555, in connection with St. 
Brendan^ but not as one of the MSS. of the English Golden Legend), 
contains a number of legends of English saints not found in the 
others, or in the Latin. We have, besides the more primitive 
forms, a MS. and a book, printed at Paris (?) in 1480 (?), represent- 
ing a thorough revision of de Vignay's French version. The orig- 
inal Latin was available in many places. With these legitimate 
materials before him, how did Caxton proceed ? what are his 
sources ? 

For the arrangement and general plan of his work Caxton chose 
the revised Vignay of MS. Stowe, = the printed V. ; and this must 
still be regarded as the groundwork of his Legend. From it he 



148 Legenda Aurea — LSgende Doree — Golden Legend, 

translated certain special feasts — such as the History of the Mass,, 
and the Twelve Articles — and probably all of the new French or 
Dutch saints found in his Legend, about thirty-five in all. To these 
Caxton adds a new and rather long life of St. Roche, translated 
from some non-Legenda Latin text. Then, the fourteen chapters 
called Bible stories, which are his own work, based on the Bible, 
but with a large admixture of legendary matter from Josephus, the^ 
Polychronicon, etc. Then wc find nineteen English saints, new to- 
the Legenda. Eight of these can be shown to have come from the 
English MSS., chiefly Add. 11, 565 ; and as this MS. is defective irt 
the very places where we should expect to find more English saints,, 
and as these legends cannot be proved to have come from other 
sources, we may be allowed to assume that they once existed in the 
original of MS. A., and that Caxton got them from this English 
translation. Caxton follows the MSS. in giving a legend of 8t^ 
Katherine, dijBPering in many particulars from that in the Legenda*. 
This leaves us, roughly speaking, the original corpus of the Legenda 
Aurea: how did Caxton treat that? Here we call attention first 
to three legends : St. George, St. Germayne, and St. Patrick. In< 
the first we find Caxton adding a paragraph of his own knowledge.. 
The second is duplicated ; in its first form he used the French of 
MS. S., = V. ; in the second, the English mss. and the Latin. In 
St. Patrick he departs from all his models, and writes a new legend,, 
in which there is but a passing reference to the Purgatory. Irt 
view of this quite unexpected departure from the role of a mere- 
translator, we ought not to decide too hastily that the bulk of his- 
text — the original corpus of the Legenda — is taken unchanged from^ 
the Latin or the French. 

We have five legends for which, owing to various reasons, Caxton 
depended on the Latin, rather than on his usual French and Eng- 
lish sources. These are : Gordian, Pernelle, Quiryne, Maryne, and 
Theodora, Examination of the etymologies which Caxton added 
to those found in MS. S., = V., shows almost beyond question that 
he here used the Latin, and not the other and older French MSS^ 
which do contain these etymologies. From this, and from the 
evidence of the five legends named above, we conclude that Caxton 
translated these legends from the Latin, may have used the Eng- 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende DorSe — Golden Legend, 149 

lish MSS., but did not know of the other French MSS. representing 
the earliest stage of de Vignay's work. 

The .labor of translating such a huge work must have been con- 
siderable. But Caxton did no1; go about his task rashly or incon- 
siderately. When we, digging at random in this abandoned mine, 
chance upon a nugget here and there which is plainly not from the 
accepted sources, we should be doubly cautious how we claim that 
this Golden Legend was filled up from this or that book. As I 
have said before, we are not justified in doing so until every page 
of his work has been sifted to discover which of his sources was 
most used. This study makes no such pretense to exhaustiveness ; 
but as far as it has gone it shows that Caxton depended to a large 
degree upon the previous English version which he seems in 
many cases to have adopted bodily, introducing necessary correc- 
tions from the Latin and the French. This, I think, is putting in 
its true light the influence of the English MSS. And I believe that 
further investigation would show a great deal more of this than I 
feel warranted in positively claiming, but that it would not show 
many new cases in which Caxton has relied solely upon this 
version. 

Appendix. — New Manuscripts. 

In Todd's Catalogue of the Lambeth MSS. (1812), No. 72 is 
■described as a '^ Codex membranaceus, folio. Sec. xv. The 
Oolden Legend, by W, Caxton. Imperfect, beginning at f. 41. 
Ends with a Table to the Lives of the Saints on f. 462 a." I had 
-seen this notice, but, having then no time to investigate, con- 
cluded that this was nothing more than a copy of Caxton's book, 
not a MS. My attention was called to it again by Mr. Herbert, 
and I then requested him to find out something about the matter 
for me. Shortly after that, he sent me notice of a MS. belonging 
to the Ash burn ham collection, to be sold at Sotheby's on May 
1st. And when the sale came off, he also examined this MS. for 
me. The results of his careful work are given below, and, 
though put in its present form by me, the whole is based on the 
information he obtained. The results confirm, in a most surprising 
and gratifying manner, many of the surmises I have hazarded, 
and my regret is therefore all the keener that I did not find these 



150 Legenda Aurea — Legends Doree — Golden Legend. 

Mss. sooner. I shall quote what Mr. Herbert says of the mss.^ 
making comments of my own. 

Lambeth MS. No. 72 is a vellum MS., folio, fifteenth century r 
" I should say,'^ he remarks, " about the middle, later rather than 
earlier, of the century ; written in two or three hands of the same 
period, in double columns of 42 lines. It is imperfect at the 
beginning, but nowhere else that I can discover ; and as the 
chapters are numbered in the rubrics, and as there are catchwords 
at the end of each quire, any lacuna should be easily detected. 
The first leaf (in the present state of the MS.) is numbered 41,. 
and the last 461 ; but a modern note on the fly-leaf points out 
that the numbering is not quite correct, 48 and 303 being omitted^ 
and 170 put twice." The ms. begins in the life of St. Agnes: 
" myght ys moste stronge, the beholdyng moste feyre, the love 
moste swete. And the grace grettest of all other. {Paragraph 
sign.) And after she put fyve benefytes that her spowse yeve 
here, and to all otherre spouses, ffor he makyth hem noble '^ 
(cf. Leg., p. 114, 1. 13). This life ends f. 42 b, and the life of 
St. Vincent begins. Rubric : " Here begynneth the lyfe of seynt 
Vynsent the deakon. Cap°^ 24"^ " 

Of the Ashburnham ms., which is by far the most important 
of all those yet discovered, Mr. Herbert says : " MSS. formerly 
in Ashburnham Appendix, sold at Sotheby's, 1 May, 1899. Lot 
1 (bought by Quaritch). It is an unusually complete copy, by 
far the most complete of any that I have seen ; and it is a fine 
MS., of much the same general pattern as Lambeth 72 and our 
(Brit. Mus.) Add. 11, 565. Large folio. Arms (said to be 
those of Elias Ashmole) stamped on cover. Vellum, ff. 173, 
double columns of 69 lines. XVth cent, (about the middle of 
the century). One or more leaves (probably not more than one or 
two) lost at the end, otherwise no imperfection so far as I noticed. 
On f. 1 is a table of chapters, headed ^ The Calendyr of the ly ves of 
Seyntys ; ' it ignores several of the articles actually included, having 
only 170 chapters instead of 197. The first page of the ms. proper 
has a fine illuminated border. Title : ^ Legenda Sanctorum in 
Englysshe. Here begynneth the boke of J^e lyfe of Seyntis callid 
in latyn Legenda sanctorum. Of ]>e whiche begynnyth first )?e 



Legenda Aurea — Ligende Dor^e — Golden Legend. 151 

lyfe of seynt Andrew the apostle/ Cap. 1 begins : ^ Seynt 
Andrewe and othir of );e disciples were callid iij tymes of 
our lord.' " 

There is no necessity for giving a complete table of contents, 
as we can indicate what the mss. contain by reference to the table 
of H., p. 50. MS. Lambeth 72, as said, begins with Agnes (incom- 
plete), = H. Cap. 23. The order is then quite like that in H. Cap. 
79, f. 143, gives: ^'lyves of seynt Albon and Araphibal, first 
martirs of Inglond." Cap. 96 is, says Mr. Herbert, '^a Life of 
Jeromey in sections, each section headed by a rubric ; including 
several epistles of Jerome J^ This is the first divergence from H. 
in MS. Lamb. 72. 

The Ashburnham MS., beginning with Andreio, runs quite 
regularly like H. as far as Cap. 66 ; here Jerome is omitted (the 
Ashb. MS. gives a Cap. later on Jerome^ No. 160). Then after 
H. Cap. 78 (Geruase) comes Xeo, = H. 82, Latin 88, and in 
present MS. numbered 78. After this we find most important 
additions, and as some of them occur in both MSS., I shall put 
them in one table; the folios for Lamb, are given, as well as 
the chapters ; for Ashb. chapters alone are given in those legends 
only which it adds to the list of Lambeth ; the legends found 
in both are also starred, to avoid all misconception. 

CAP. FOL. CAP. POL. 



79., 


.. 


. . . Edward King & Conf. 


101 ., 


,. 217b . 


.. *Edmond kyng & 


80., 


,. 


... Winifred Yirg. 






marUV. 


81 ., 


,. 


... Erkenwolde. 


102., 


.. 218 . 


.. ^ffrydeswide. 


82., 


•• 


... ^Albone & Amphia- 
belle.^ 


103., 


.. 219 . 


.. *Edward kynge & 
martir. 


97 ., 


.. 202 


... "^Brendan {later in Ash.). 


104 ., 


.. 220 . 


.. *Alphey bieschop. 


98.. 


,. 208 , 


... *Au8tyn bisschop {later 
in Ash.). 


100 .. 


,. 


.. ^Austyn Bp (Apost 
Angl).' 


99.. 


.213 


... ^Edmond bisschop.' 


105 . 


.. 221 . 


.. *Oswold. 



100 ... 216 ... *Bride. 106 .. 222 b ... *Donston. 

I 
^ These 4 are from Ashb. ; Albone, of course, same as in other mss. ; in Ashb. 
Albone is followed by chapter8 = H., Nos. 80, 81 (Lat., 86, 87), then 83-91, in- 
clusive (Lat., 89-97), then Edmond, Ash. Cap. 94, = Lamb. 99. 

'In Ashb., "Edmond confessour,'' beginning a new leaf, IJ cols, being left 
blank after Cap. 93, Appollynar. 

'See below, comments on Austyn; does not come in this place in Lamb.; 
see Cap. 98. 



152 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

CAP. FOIi. CAP. POL. 

107 ... 224 ... *Aldelyne con- 112 ... 230 b ... *Cutberte Bp. 

fessowr.^ 113 ... 231 b ... *ffeythe Virgin. 

108 ... 224b ... -^Theophile the 114 ... 232 ... *Dorolhy Virgin. 

clerke.2 115 ... 232b ... *Leger.3 

109 ... 227 b ... *SwythynBysschop. 116 ... 234 ... Michael. 

110 ... 228b ... *Kenelme King & 117 ... 237 ... Thomas of Caun- 

Martyr. turbery.* 

111 ... 230 ... *Chadde Bp. 118 ... 251 ... Barbara Virgin.^ 

The last two, it will be noticed, are only in the Lamb. MS. 
I continue my comment on this MS., which now adheres to the 
order of H., though there are still many changes. Cap. 119 is 
Martha, = H. Cap. 99, and so on regularly through Cap. 105 of H. 
It is a curious, and, perhaps, a significant coincidence, that the 
four chapters which are lost in H. are omitted in this MS, namely, 
Domynyke, Sixte, Donate, and Oiriak. Besides, Hippolitus, Timothy , 
and Simphorian are omitted, as well as the four chapters, 118— 
121 (of H.), inclusive.^ Then the MS. omits all following Cecile, 
as far as Exaltaoioun, which is followed by Chrysostom (here Cap. 
135). After this we pass to (Cap. 136) Matthaeus, followed by 
Francis, with omission of all those intervening except Leger, 
given above (115). I shall save time and space by simply giving 
the numbers of the chapters in the H. table which are here 
omitted. The MS. omits Caps.: 143, 144, 145, 147, 150, 153, 
157, 158, 162 (also omitted here in A., cf. p. 69, and in Ashb., 
see below), 164 (166 and 167 are transposed), 171 (probably, as 
in other mss., only an apparent omission ; cf. pp. 63-64). 

The Lyfe of Adam and Eve (f. 423), and the " V. wylys j^at kyng 
pharao vsyd ajenst J>e children of Jsraelle to kepe hem in his londe " 
(f. 431), seem to be complete (as also in Ashb.). Then follows a 
final cap. (164, f. 437) : " );e ly ves of )?e * i i j * kyngis of Coleyne, 

^ In Ashb., Cap. 112, Aldelme. 

*In Lamb., "followed by the six Mary -legends, numbered 2-7, in Ward, ii, 
735-736 ; " cf. p. 66 ; in Ashb., " no Mary legends." 

^ After this in Ashb. come Brendan (see Cap. 97) and Orystyne (= Lat. 98), 
the rest being omitted. 

*In Lamb., "I think longer than Graesse, Cap. 11," says Mr. Herbert; of 
course, this is in all probability the same legend found in Add. 

^"In 16 chapters, followed by many 'meraclis' of St. Barbara, ff. 251, 274." 

*As in H., Cap. 125 of Lat. is om. here. 



Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 153 

conteyned in • xl vj • chapters." This begins : " Sithe of ]>ese • i ij • 
Worshipful and glorious kyngis alle j^e World, from j^e arisynge of 
]>e sunne to his down goynge, is fulle of preisyngis & meritis, )7er- 
fore also j^is World shalle and doithe schyne." It ends, on f. 461, 
near the foot of col. 2 : '^ the whiche • i i j * holy kyngis no we reigne 
in ]>e hye blisse of heven : to the whiche blysse he vs brynge, there 
owre lord Jhu crist regneth aboue alle kyngis. Amen." ^ There is, 
says Mr. Herbert, ^' no colophon ; but there may have been one, 
for the corner of the (last) leaf has been cut away close up to the 
concluding words, quoted above. On f. 461 b is a list of contents 
in a modern hand (XYIth or XVIIth cent.), made after the loss 
at the beginning." 

If there had been any doubt as to whether these MS8. should 
be classed with those we already know, it would be removed when 
we find the test passage from St. Germayne (cf. p. 73) reading just 
like all the others : "And than the kynges Cowherd had led his 
bestes to pasture, so as the Saxons fou-^t ayenst the bretons/^ etc., 
in Lamb., f. 228 b, and MS. Ashb., f. 89 b, with few verbal 
differences. 

The order of ms. Lamb., and particularly of the new legends, is 
not quite the same as in Add. 11,565 ; but the differences are not 
very important. In Add., Becket begins the list of new legends, 
and Brandan closes it (cf. MS. Ash.) ; here the order is reversed, 
Brendan being put first (we exclude Jeromey though it is probably 
a new chapter), and Becket next to the last. Besides, in Add. 
Michael is put much later (cf. p. 68), while here a chapter on 
Michael — which may be presumed to be of the same nature as 
that in Add. — precedes Becket. We have noted the coincidence in 
the omission of Cecile, and the same is true of Ashb. But the 
strongest reason for classing these two mss. with Add. is the mere 
fact of the added legends. Lamb, has compensated for the addi- 
tions by a good many omissions, far more than in Add. ; but the 
Ashb. MS., to which I now turn, is full. 

* The version here given seems to be the same found in mss. Cambridge Univ. 
Libr. Ee. 4. 32, and Cotton, Titus A. xxv. The beginning and end correspond 
almost verbatim ; cf. The Three Kings of Cologne, ed. Horstmann, E. E. T. S. No. 
85, pp. 2 and 156. The present MS. was not known to Horstmann. I must thank 
Dr. Bright for the hint leading to this note. 



154 Legenda Aurea — L^gende Dorie — Golden Legend. 

In, MS. Ashb., after Leger come (Cap. 112) Brandon, (113) 
Crystyne, = H. 92, Lat. 98, and then regularly as in H. On folio 
93 b, end, we find the close of Domynyh : ^' & he manassid the 
worlde (f. 94) gretelye, as it is afore rehersid. for I, ffryoi^r John 
of Renyngnaye, translatowr of this boke, wolle no more put here 
of that vysion, for she is afore in this same chaptoure. And this 
endith,'^ etc. Cf. p. 146. 

The last three chapters in MS. Ashb. are : A dam, Pharao, and 
Advent, reversing the order of H. The last words of Advent, 
which is not complete, are : " The worchyng of the ix*^ article is 
that .... if he be a layman'' — on folio 173b, the last in the 
volume. 

It will be remembered that I suggested that MS. Add. once 
contained a life of St. Ausiyn from which Caxton drew, and a life 
of Oswolde which he intended to use but did not (pp. 83 and 85). 
Both are in these new mss., and the Ashb. MS. actually gives the 
significant title Apost. Angl. to one of its chapters on Austyyi (both 
MSS. have two Austyns ; in Lam. they are Nos. 98 and 130; in 
Ashb., 100 and 138). We need have little hesitation in asserting 
that one of these corresponds to Caxton's first chapter on St. Austyn. 
Moreover, when we turn back to the list of new English saints 
(p. 83), we find that the present mss. contain, besides the Oswolde 
to which Caxton refers without afterwards incorporating it, nearly 
every one of those enumerated. Three only remain to be accounted 
for, and they are all comparatively short : Hugh, Bede, and Trans- 
lation of Beket. One cannot help a feeling of gratification at find- 
ing predictions so happily justified by the event. And, since guesses 
have been so promptly and fully confirmed in other cases, I have 
no doubt that these legends, too, once existed in some form of the 
English prose translation of the Legenda Aurea. 



LIFE. 



I was born January 18th, 1873, in New Orleans, La. Until my 
fifteenth year I was taught entirely at home, by private instructors, 
partly on a plantation in Mississippi, partly in New Orleans. In 
October, 1888, 1 entered Tulane University, where I pursued the regular 
Academic course, receiving the degree of B. A. in 1892. Two years 
more spent in advanced study at Tulane, in English, French, and 
History, during which time I gave elementary instruction to classes in 
these subjects, brought me the degree of M. A. in June, 1894. In 
October of that year I went to Paris, where I entered the Sorbonne, 
pursuing studies in Old and Modern French. In the Spring and 
Summer of 1895 I was traveling in Italy, France, Great Britain, and 
Ireland. Keturning to America, I entered the English department of 
Johns Hopkins University, pursuing courses in English, French, and 
History. In June, 1897, I returned to England, intending to collect 
materials for this dissertation. But an unfortunate accident, affecting 
my sight, compelled me not only to return, but to relinquish all work 
for that academic year. My sight was so far recovered in May, 1898, 
that, having been appointed Fellow in English, I returned to England, 
and spent the Summer collecting materials for this study, in the British 
Museum, the Bodleian Library, and the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris. 

I must take this occasion to acknowledge many obligations to in- 
structors and friends, and particularly to Dr. James W. Bright. His 
constant and inspiring help and encouragement alone enabled me to 
complete this work. The suggestion, the idea, is his own ; the faulty 
way in which it has been prosecuted is mine. To Dr. R. H. Wilson I 
owe thanks for some help on Old French. And it is no new thing to 
find oneself obliged to express thanks for the uniformly kind and polite 
treatment which a foreign student receives in the great Libraries of 
Europe, particularly those in England. 




LbMy'3Q 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 044 152 1 



mwA^ 



. . . : : M ,':H<T1 



